


Promised Love: Honeymoon Phase

by ahowell1993



Series: Promised Love Series [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Betrayal, Break up (Not Spencer), F/M, Fix-it for Proof and Painless, Honeymoon, Hospitals, Hurricane, Implied Child Abuse, Permanent Disability, Pregnancy, Spencer doesn’t forgive easily, Spencer is an amazing uncle, Suicidal Thoughts, earthquake, fake death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 78,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahowell1993/pseuds/ahowell1993
Summary: Sequel to Promised Love Book One. Newlyweds Spencer and Olivia have finally said I do and they're enjoying their honeymoon until a shocking secret comes to light causing Spencer to doubt his sanity. Will the aftermath of the exposed secret cause Spencer to return and stay in B.A.U. while he and Olivia prepare for the next step of their life together?I don’t own Criminal Minds.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Will LaMontagne Jr., Spencer/Original Female Character
Series: Promised Love Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962835
Kudos: 13





	1. Wedding Night

**Author's Note:**

> The TV show, movie, and episode that I referenced is "The Big Bang Theory" (I seen a lot of episodes because of my stepfather watching the show), "The Aristocats (One of my favorite animated Disney movies from my childhood that I watched on VCR (I'm a 90's baby) and I refused to name Spencer's and Olivia's Basset Hound after my Basset Hound Fred), and the Criminal Minds episode 300 when Mary Meadows allowed Spencer to say some last words and he started reciting Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 as a way to stall.
> 
> Here's chapter one of the sequel to Promised Love: Book One. If you haven't read Promised Love: Book One, please go back and read it before reading this chapter that starts a minute after chapter ten of Promised Love: Book One.

Previously in chapter ten of Promised Love Book One.

Spencer chuckled as he recited what was needed as he slipped Olivia's wedding band onto Olivia's left ring finger, "Olivia, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the holy spirit."

Father Davison looked at Olivia as he handed her a gold wedding band, "You know what to say too."

A laughing Olivia took the larger ring before looking at Spencer as she slipped Spencer's wedding band onto his left ring finger, "Spencer, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the holy spirit."

Father Davison looked at Spencer, "Now you may kiss your wife."

Spencer smiled at his wife as he gently lifted her veil and pulled his wife into a sweet and gentle kiss.

Meanwhile in Paris, France: Jacqueline/Emily who was watching Spencer marry Olivia through live-feed on a laptop thanks to Interpol sending in an agent undercover as a Deacon with a hidden camera on him was loudly sobbing as she watched Spencer kiss his wife while wishing that her death wasn't faked so she could have been to the wedding in person and hoped that she could return to D.C. as Emily Prentiss in time for Spencer and Olivia to eventually have the baby geniuses she once asked Spencer about having someday.

Xxxx

Spencer and Olivia quickly snuck into a room and kissed each other.

"We're finally married, Doc," said Olivia.

Spencer grinned, "I'm married to one of the most beautiful girls in the world."

"And I'm married to one of the sexiest men in the world. You look hot in your tuxedo," said Olivia.

At that moment a knock sounded on the door, "As much as I want grandchildren, can you two please try to wait until tonight to consummate your marriage? I didn't raise my son to have sex in a church."

Spencer and Olivia both blushed.

Olivia laughed, "Spencer and I just wanted a few minutes alone before we thank each guest for coming. We'll be out in a second, Diana."

A few seconds later Olivia looked at her husband who was flexing his bad knee, "How's your knee doing from the kneeling we had to do?" asked Olivia.

"It's a bit stiff, but I'll make sure to do some stretches and take a muscle relaxer I've been prescribed before the reception. What about you?" asked Spencer.

"If you're asking about my prosthetic leg, I'm doing fine. Thankfully I have my knee and half of my tibia and fibula, so the kneeling I had to do wasn't an issue," said Olivia.

A minute later Spencer and Olivia were engulfed into a hug by Diana.

"My baby is finally married," said Diana before looking at Olivia, "Knowing your parents, they would be so proud of you today."

Olivia nodded, "I know."

William smiled at his son, "Congratulations, son."

Spencer smiled, "Thank you, dad, and I'm glad that I gave you a second chance so you can be here today."

"Me too," said William before looking at Olivia, "Even though I can never replace your father, I want to give you the honor to call me 'dad' instead of William."

Olivia hugged her father-in-law, "I'd love to, dad."

Diana looked at her son and daughter-in-law, "I'll be heading to the hospital to get some rest, but I'll be there for the reception."

"We'll see you then, mom," said Spencer as he hugged his mother one last time and kissed her cheek before he accepted compliments on the wedding from his Aunt Ethel, Uncle Gordon, and Travis's wife Christina before Hotch approached them.

"Congratulations Reid. I'm glad that I was able to come home so I can witness you get married," said Hotch as he pulled his youngest agent into a rare hug.

Spencer gave a cheeky grin as he thought back to a suspect once asking him if Hotch was his daddy, "Thank you, dad."

"You should be lucky that your father already left or he'll get jealous," said Hotch.

"I already told him about why I jokingly call you dad and he understands why you became a second father to me over the years and is glad that I have you," said Spencer.

Jack who was holding his father's hand smiled at Spencer and Olivia, "Thank you for asking me to be one of your ring bearers."

Olivia hugged Jack, "Your welcome, Jack-Attack. If you end up attending the wedding reception in a few hours, I expect to share a dance with you."

Jack smiled, "Daddy said that I can attend the party for dinner and two hours of dancing."

"I'll see you then, Jack," said Spencer.

After Hotch and Jack walked away, Garcia stepped towards them.

"The wedding was so beautiful," gushed Garcia.

"Thank you," said Spencer.

"Thank you," said Olivia.

"Since you two said yes to having kids when you two were asked if you two will accept children, I can't wait for you two to start having babies," gushed Garcia.

Kevin rested a hand on his girlfriend's arms, "We should get going so Dr. Reid and Dr. Reid can thank the rest of their guests for coming, plum sauce."

"We'll see you two in a couple of hours," said Spencer.

After Garcia and Kevin walked away, Spencer smiled at Morgan, "I'm glad that you were able to make it in time, Morgan."

"Thankfully JJ, Rossi, and I were able to make it back from Seattle four hours before the wedding," said Morgan before clapping Spencer's shoulder, "I can't believe that you got married before me."

"You just need to find someone who can handle the long hours the B.A.U. has," said Spencer.

After Morgan walked away, Spencer and Olivia received congratulations and well wishes from the rest of their guests.

Xxxx

15 minutes later, Spencer was making a mental note to thoroughly wash his hands after shaking over 100 hands when his eyes went wide when he saw Elle Greenway who had her brown hair cut into a layered chin-length bob causing him to unexpectedly pull Elle into a hug, "Elle," said Spencer.

Elle grinned, "Well isn't it Dr. Spencer Reid who's now a happily married man while he has short hair that isn't like that boy's original haircut," said Elle before holding out her hand to Olivia, "I'm Elle Greenway-Lopez. I worked with your husband for over a year."

Olivia smiled as she held out her hand, "Then I'm glad that you were able to make it because Doc told me that you stood up to him a few times when it came to Derek."

"I didn't send you an invitation," said Spencer.

"I know, but Garcia tracked me down and told me that you were getting married so I had to crash your wedding after everything you told me about Olivia when we briefly worked together," said Elle.

"Which I'm glad that you were able to come," said Spencer grinned as he realized that Elle had her humor back, "You look great."

"You look great too since you look like that you put on some much-needed weight and some lean muscles over the past four and a half years," said Elle.

"I got shot in the line of duty and ended up having to haul myself around crutches for a few months almost two years ago," said Spencer.

Elle gestured to the man who was holding her hand, "This is my husband Rico Lopez. We've been married to each other for two years."

Spencer thought about Elle mentioning that she wanted to have a family someday, "Any kids yet?" asked Spencer.

Elle nodded, "We have an 18-month-old son named Robert and he's currently with my mom in Brooklyn," said Elle before she rested her hand on her stomach that was covered her dress, "while we're 21-weeks pregnant with our daughter."

Spencer grinned, "Congratulations."

Elle looked towards the guests that were waiting to greet Spencer and Olivia, "We'll talk during the reception."

"See you then, Elle," said Spencer.

Xxx

Ten minutes later, JJ who decided to be the last one to talk to Spencer and Olivia approached the newlyweds, "The wedding was very beautiful and thank you for allowing Henry to be one of the two ring bearers," said JJ.

"Thank you for coming," said Spencer.

"Even though you had the right to uninvited me to your wedding," said JJ before looking at Olivia, "Even though you've been calling me Jennifer since the day Spence introduced you to me, can you please call me JJ instead?" asked JJ.

"Are you going to be civil to me? If you aren't, I'm going to keep on calling you by the name your parents gave you," said Olivia.

JJ nodded, "I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you. Spence is such a sweet guy and I always thought that he was going to wait for me just in case Will and I didn't work out, but then I met you at Emily's funeral causing the feelings I once had for Spence to reemerge and ruin the family I started over the past couple of years."

"Even though Spencer and I made a marriage pact to reunite and get married if we're still single by the time we were 30, it wasn't healthy for him to wait for you while Spencer and I ended up meeting sooner than we planned by chance causing us to realize that we're still in love with each other and marry each other today instead of next year so we don't have to wait any longer," said Olivia.

"I realized that during the wedding because you two looked so happy together at the altar," said JJ.

Olivia sat down in the chair that was placed for her and lifted the skirt of her wedding dress and removed her left prosthetic leg and rubbed the limb.

"You OK, Livy?" asked Spencer.

"Stumpy is a bit itchy," said Olivia.

"Do you think that you need your crutches for a few hours?" asked Spencer.

Olivia shook her head, "I'll just need to grab some anti-itch cream and I shall be good to wear my prosthetic leg for all the pictures that are about to be taken of us throughout D.C. and the reception before I take off my prosthetic leg for the night."

Marissa looked at her best friend, "I'll go grab your purse, Olivia," said Marissa as she hurried off.

Olivia looked at JJ who was looking at her stump in shock, "No one told you that I'm an amputee yet?" asked Olivia.

JJ shook her head, "No."

"When Doc and I were 17, we went on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with my parents and brother. We were wading in the Colorado River to cool off when I accidentally tripped over a rock and fell into the river causing a Mojave rattlesnake that was three feet away from me to reach out and bite me. It took over an hour for me to get to the hospital, and the dead tissue around the bite caused me to undergo a transtibial amputation so I can survive the snakebite and eventually walk again," said Olivia.

JJ thought about the baby girl she was pregnant with and miscarried in Afghanistan, "Are you going to be able to go through a pregnancy?" asked JJ.

Olivia nodded, "I'll just need to meet a prosthesis once a month for adjustments on my prosthetic leg while I can always get around in a wheelchair when I can no longer handle wearing my prosthetic leg. Being an amputee is a reason why Edmund got a house across the street from Spencer and me while Spencer's father is going to be moving in with us before Christmas so I'll always have family members nearby to help me if Spencer decides to return to the B.A.U."

JJ looked at Spencer, "You haven't made your decision on whether you're going to return to the B.A.U. or not yet?" asked JJ.

"I'm not going to make my final decision until September 6th because I want to be there for Olivia's first week as a professor at Georgetown University, but Chief Strauss told me that that the Bureau needs my decision by the six-month mark of my sabbatical," said Spencer just as Marissa came over with the anti-itch cream.

As soon as Olivia had the anti-itch cream on her stump, the liner put back on, and her prosthetic leg back on Spencer and Olivia were being pelted with rice as they headed to Spencer's ancient car that was already had 'Just Married' painted on the trunk window while tin cans were tied to the bumper so they could go around Washington D.C. to get their pictures taken.

Xxxx

After spending the remainder of the afternoon going to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol Building, Rock Creek Park where some leaves were already turning yellow, orange, and red for the approaching fall, and a few other places in Washington D.C. to get their pictures taken, and going to the cemetery where Emily and Haley were buried so Olivia could lay some of the flowers from her bouquet on both graves: Spencer and Olivia stood outside of the tent outside of the Smithsonian Castle that their wedding reception was taking place in as they waited for the disc jockey that they hired to announce their presence since their immediate family and the kids in their wedding party were introduced.

"I now present you, Doctors Spencer and Olivia Reid," said their disc jockey Liam.

Spencer gave his wife a teasing grin, "Let's go Dr. Reid."

Olivia grasped her husband's hand and gave her husband a teasing grin, "Let's go Dr. Hartford."

Spencer and Olivia walked hand in hand as they entered the tent that had fairy lights that would be lit as soon as it got dark outside as their guests clapped and cheered.

Xxxx

After eating dinner that Spencer and Olivia barely got to eat since everyone kept on clinking their glasses to make them kiss, dealing with some embarrassing toasts from family members, friends, and coworkers; Spencer led Olivia onto the dance floor so they could have their first dance as husband and wife as the song "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain started to play causing Spencer to lead his wife into a slow dance that involved him slowly spinning and dipping his wife on the dance floor.

After the song "You're Still the One" finished playing, Spencer and Clarissa clasped hands together and bowed while everyone clapped before Spencer walked over to his mother who had tears falling down her face, "May I please have this dance, mom?" asked Spencer.

"Time for the mother of the groom to dance with the groom?" asked Diana.

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer as he helped his mother up and escorted his mother to the middle of the dance floor just as "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan started to play while there was no dry eye from the women as Spencer slow danced with his mother before Olivia danced to the song "I Hope You Dance" by LeeAnn Womack with her brother since she couldn't dance with her father.

After Olivia was done dancing with her brother, the "Chicken Dance" started playing causing Abigail, Brayden, and Jack to get onto the dance floor and started doing the "Chicken Dance" with Spencer and Olivia as a way to encourage everyone to join them on the dance floor.

Xxxx

20 minutes later, Spencer and Olivia had just finished slow dancing to "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars when the song " when Elle Greenway approached them.

"Hi, Elle," said Olivia.

Elle looked at Spencer, "May I please have this dance, Spencer?" asked Elle.

Olivia smiled at her husband, "Go ahead, Doc. I'll see if our nephew or Jack wants to dance with me," said Olivia as she stalked off to find her 10-year-old nephew and Jack who were now sitting at the kids' table with Henry, Adeline, and Abigail.

A few seconds later Spencer and Elle were slow dancing to the song "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts when Elle glanced over at Olivia who was dancing with Brayden, Jack, and Henry at the same time, "I like Olivia, Spencer."

"Sadly my teammate Emily who died in the line of duty in February and Gideon never got to meet her yet while JJ just started warming up to Olivia earlier this afternoon," said Spencer.

"I'm sorry about your teammate Emily," said Elle.

"Thanks," said Spencer.

"Garcia told me about Gideon running away like I did, so I'm sorry that you had to go through your father figure abandoning you too even though I see that you reconnected with your father," said Elle as she looked towards the area where she saw Spencer's parents dancing together.

"I've been reconnecting with my father for two years and almost eight months now, so I knew that he deserved to watch me marry the love of my life," said Spencer before thinking back to his own P.T.S.D., "When Olivia and I get back from our honeymoon, do you think that we can have a Skype chat?" asked Spencer.

Elle noticed a look in Spencer's eyes, "Something happened to you after I left?" asked Elle.

Spencer nodded, "Yes and my wedding reception isn't a place to talk about it."

After the song ended, the song "Follow Me" by Uncle Kracker started playing causing Abigail to walk over to her new uncle,

"Uncle Spencer?" asked Abigail.

Spencer smiled at his ten-year-old niece who looked so much like his wife causing him to hope that he ends up a little girl of his own with Olivia's strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes, "Yes, Abigail?" asked Spencer.

"May I please dance with you?" asked Abigail.

Spencer smiled, "Sure," said Spencer as he started to dance with his niece.

Two minutes later, Olivia who was sitting with her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and Hotch smiled as she watched her husband twirl their niece on the dance floor, "I can already imagine Spencer dancing with his future daughter right now."

Diana smiled, "Seeing you dance with Jack earlier made me hope that you have a little boy just like Spencer was."

Olivia grinned, "Me too while Spencer commented that he wants a little girl too."

Hotch laughed, "Spencer will be in so much trouble if his children inherit his eyes. I've ended up in trouble countless of times with his eyes."

Diana looked at her daughter-in-law, "How many grandchildren are you hoping to give me?" asked Diana.

"Depending on how my first pregnancy as a below the knee amputee goes, I'd love to have two of each with Spencer before we turn 35," said Olivia before looking at Hotch, "Hopefully Spencer will be able to take paternity leave every time he gets me pregnant."

Hotch smiled a bit, "Before you came back into Spencer's life, it was hard to make him take time off unless he was sick or injured while he willingly took a sabbatical so he can finish up on helping with wedding planning and spend time with you."

Olivia smiled, "If you ever have trouble with Spencer, just let me know so I can deal with my husband."

"Do you know when you're husband will be returning to the B.A.U.?" asked Hotch.

Olivia shook her head, "He hasn't said anything yet since he decided to wait until after our honeymoon to go through his job offers, but Spencer and I agreed that he'll make his decision by September 6th so he can be there for me until after my first-week teaching at Georgetown University

"Even if he decides to work a job that's more stable than the B.A.U., I'll support his decision since I told him not to make the same mistake I made with Haley," said Hotch.

Xxxx

A half-hour later Hotch walked over to JJ who was glaring daggers towards Will who was dancing with Olivia's best friend Marissa while she kept on looking at the bar that had a sign saying that there will be no alcohol served until after the kids leave, "Why haven't you danced with Will yet?" asked Hotch.

JJ quickly recounted her breakup with Will, confessing her love to Spencer, and the marriage counseling session Will dragged her to after she tried to beg him to take her back only for the therapist to tell them that they should just remain broken up after going over their history.

Hotch sighed as he looked over where Spencer and Olivia were dancing to the song "We Built This City" by Starship, "When I first met Olivia, I knew that she was the one for Spencer since he was looking at her the same way I looked at Haley before the divorce."

"I realized that during the wedding, but my confession caused me to stop being Spence's best friend while I lost Will too," said JJ.

"You'll just have to live with the mistakes you made and after you moved on from Will and Reid you'll be ready to date again," said Hotch.

"I hope so," said JJ just as Henry and Jack who were dancing with Spencer's second-cousin Adeline ran over to them.

"Mommy, can we please eat cake now?" asked Henry.

Jack nodded, "Can we?" asked Jack.

"Let's go ask Uncle Spencer and Aunt Olivia, but then after we eat cake you'll be going home with Aunt Jessica," said Hotch.

JJ nodded, "After we eat cake, your grandma Sandy will be coming to pick you up, Henry."

"Do we have to go home after eating cake?" asked Jack.

"It's almost 8 P.M., so it's getting close to your bedtime, Jack," said Hotch as he scooped up his son just as Spencer and Olivia approached them.

"How are you guys doing?" asked Spencer.

"Can we please eat cake now, Uncle Spencer?" asked Jack.

Hotch looked at Spencer, "Jessica will be coming in 30 minutes to pick up Jack."

Olivia nodded, "We might as well go smash cake in each other's faces and enjoy the cake since it's getting close to Abigail's and Brayden's bedtime too."

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were standing in front of the three-tier vanilla cake because of some of the guests being allergic to chocolate as they each held a piece of cake in front of each other.

"On a count to one," said Olivia.

"Two," said Spencer.

"Three," said Olivia as she and her husband smashed their pieces of cake into each other's faces before they pulled each other into a kiss while their guests clapped and cheered before they all each got a piece of cake while Spencer and Olivia cleaned themselves up.

Xxxx

An hour later Jack, Henry, Abigail, Brayden, and Adeline had all went either home with Jessica, their grandma Sandy, or a pregnant Danielle who offered to take Adeline so Spencer's cousin and wife can enjoy themselves when Spencer who had taken a break from dancing walked over to Will who was sitting alone with a glass of brandy while Marissa helped Olivia in the bathroom, "How are you doing?" asked Spencer.

"I'm doing fine since I had a great time dancing with Olivia's friend Marissa earlier," said Will.

"Did Marissa tell you that she's from New Orleans?" asked Spencer.

"I already knew that Marissa was from New Orleans since we lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools together before Marissa's father was transferred to Pasadena causing her to move to Pasadena when she was 15 and I was 17," said Will.

"She ended up being a great friend for me since she helped pull strings on getting my mom into Bennington Sanitarium since her uncle was one of the administrators at the time," said Spencer before grinning, "At least she already opened up her flower shop here in D.C. and you chose to stay in D.C. for Henry's sake, so maybe you can ask her out someday," said Spencer.

Will sighed as he glanced over at JJ who was ordering her third glass of wine, "JJ wasn't happy when we were told that we can't get back together while she was also glaring daggers at Marissa and me when I was dancing with Marissa earlier."

Spencer sighed as he thought back to the conversation he had with Will during the bachelor party he had with Jack, Henry, and Brayden with his brother-in-law and Will as chaperones at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia through July 8th and 9th since he and the male members of his wedding party had to have a bachelor party that was child and toddler friendly despite him, Edmund, Morgan, Rossi, Grant Anderson, Will, and Kevin getting together for a few poker games and watching "The Hangover" in Morgan's apartment a week after taking Henry, Jack, and Brayden to the Great Wolf Lodge since he and Edmund weren't big on drinking.

Flashback

After Jack, Henry, and Brayden were asleep in their hotel beds; Spencer and Will were in the living area of the three-bedroom hotel suite drinking Arnold Palmers while Edmund who was still adjusting to living in a timezone that was over six hours behind Germany was asleep in the bedroom that he was sleeping in on his own when Spencer looked at Will who still looked tense ever since JJ broke up with him, "Have you and JJ had a chance to talk without Henry listening in ever since you and Henry got back from New Orleans a month ago?" asked Spencer quietly.

Will nodded, "JJ tried to make me take her back after your Mama threatened to scratch out her eyes if she tried to break you and Olivia up."

"Are you going to get back together with her?" asked Spencer.

Will shook his head, "Even though we weren't married, I forced JJ to go visit a marriage counselor with me so we can talk about our breakup with a professional and we had to tell the counselor why JJ broke up with me."

Spencer nodded, "I had to bring up JJ's confession during the Pre-Cana session I had on the Wednesday after JJ confessed that she's in love with me. I was told that I did the right thing by telling Olivia about the confession right after telling JJ that I wasn't going to break off my engagement and told her to leave," said Spencer before getting back on topic, "What did the counselor say?" asked Spencer.

"The counselor told us that we should remain broken up since it's not healthy for JJ and me to get back together if JJ confessed that she's in love with a man who's about to marry someone else while we would hurt Henry if we're in a loveless relationship," said Will.

"Did she take that advice well?" asked Spencer.

Will shook his head, "She was extremely upset," said Will before sighing, "Something happened to JJ during her time at the State Department between Emily's funeral and leaving the State Department to return to the F.B.I. as a profiler, but she just won't talk about what happened since the assignments she went on were classified."

Spencer nodded, "As someone who has experience with post-traumatic stress disorder, she's acting like she's having P.T.S.D since Morgan told me that she's constantly badgering her for lessons on hand to hand combat and going running together while I was able to smell wine on her breath when she asked me out for brunch. Over the past month, she hasn't been the JJ I once had a small crush on before she broke my heart by bringing Garcia along on the one date I asked her on."

Will nodded, "She's no longer the JJ I fell in love with either," said Will before sighing, "The therapist told JJ that before she can even start about dating again, she needs to let the both of us go completely while she talks to a therapist who has high enough clearance to talk about her time at the State Department."

"Speaking of counseling, I'm glad that I'm going to Pre-Cana counseling sessions with Olivia. We've been learning more about each other when it comes to our fears while we're planning our future as a married couple before we can even say 'I do' to each other on our wedding day," said Spencer.

"It probably helps that you and Olivia also decided to be the type of couple who chose not to live together or share a bed until after you two marry each other too," said Will before taking a sip of his Arnold Palmer, "Even though I can never regret having Henry with JJ, I just wish that JJ and I had a relationship that involved no getting into each other's bed until after marriage."

Flashback over

"If you're over JJ and ready to start dating again, you're allowed to start dating again. After Olivia and I ended up ending our three-year-long relationship, I waited over two years to try dating again while knowing that Olivia would always be my first love and a piece of my heart," said Spencer.

"Even though it's been over two months since the breakup, I'm just going to spend a few more months being single and spend time with Henry before I start dating again," said Will.

Spencer smiled as he watched his wife and Marissa approach them, "Just don't take too long to ask Marissa out because someone might ask her out before you can."

A minute later Olivia and Marissa approached them.

"I don't know about you Doc, but I want to get the bouquet and garter belt tossed before we spend our first night as husband and wife in our new home before we go to 8 A.M. Mass tomorrow morning," said Olivia.

Spencer blushed a bit as he looked at the clock and saw that it was 10 P.M., "Let's do it because I feel more comfortable about taking off your garter belt right now since Abigail, Brayden, Jack, Henry, and Adeline are gone while my mom is at the hospital."

A few minutes later their guests have taken a break from dancing as a tomato red-faced Spencer got onto his hands and knees and removed Olivia's right western boot before he hid underneath the skirt of his wife's wedding dress and removed the garter belt with his teeth.

After Spencer helped his wife get her boot back on and whispered to her about the chemistry that Marissa and Will had, he used the garter belt as a slingshot and shot it towards Will while Olivia made sure to aim her bouquet to Marissa who caught it causing Marissa and Will to dance with each other again before Spencer and Olivia who both didn't drink any alcohol including champagne snuck out of the tent to go home.

Xxxx

30 minutes later, Spencer was carrying Olivia into their new house and locked the door before they made sure that all the blinds were closed and the doors were locked before Spencer and Olivia helped each other remove Olivia's wedding dress, Spencer's tuxedo, and Olivia's prosthetic leg before they spent the next six hours taking each other's virginity away by consummating their marriage as they christened their new home.


	2. Honeymoon & A Schizophrenic Break?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts on Monday, August 8th of 2011 at 8 A.M Ukrainian time, and a swear word is said at the end of the chapter.

Spencer and Olivia were riding in a taxi to their hotel in Lviv, Ukraine when Olivia looked at her husband, "What do you think of Lviv so far?" asked Olivia.

"Lviv is more beautiful than the pictures you showed me in person," said Spencer.

"Too bad that we didn't marry in December because it gets very beautiful here in December since they decorate the city for Christmas while there's a bunch of festivals going on," said Olivia.

"Even though we're both from the desert and I've been living on the East Coast for over eight years now, I still hate winter," said Spencer before smiling at his wife, "Even though I still hate winter a bit, maybe we can come here during a future December."

"I'd like that," said Olivia.

The 20-year-old taxi driver spoke up in accented English, "What brings you two here in Lviv?" asked the taxi driver.

"We're on our honeymoon," said Spencer.

"Why come here while American tourists usually go to London, Paris, and Rome?" asked the taxi driver.

"The Peace Corps sent me here as a middle school math and English teacher from 2005 to 2007, so I vowed to take my future husband here for my honeymoon," said Olivia.

"I thought that it was you, Dr. Hartford. I was one of your students in 2005," said the driver.

"I was thinking that it was you, Igor," said Olivia before gesturing to Spencer, "This is my husband, Dr. Spencer Reid. I've told him about you and all of the other students I taught math and English to during my time here in Lviv."

"It's finally nice to meet you, Dr. Reid," said Igor.

"You too, Igor," said Spencer.

"How's that prosthetic leg of yours doing, Mrs. Reid?" asked Igor.

Olivia smiled, "I just got a new prosthetic leg two years ago, so I'll be getting a new one in three years."

"That's good," said Igor as he started telling Olivia that he was dating her former student Nadiya and he's planning on proposing to her soon and hopes that they could come back to Lviv if he marries Nadiya.

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia arrived at the Grand Hotel Lviv Luxury & Spa where they would be staying for the next six nights causing them to check-in, unpack their belongings, and eat breakfast before they left for a three-hour walking tour around Lviv so they can decide where they wanted to visit for the next six days.

Xxxx

After finishing their walking tour, Spencer and Olivia were in their hotel room to get some rest when Spencer looked at his wife who had removed her prosthetic leg and was rubbing her stump while he rubbed his bad knee, "Should we go down to the hot tub so the hot water can relax our sore muscles?" asked Spencer.

"Definitely, but I can't wear my prosthetic leg in the pool or hot tub, Doc," said Olivia.

"You can use your crutches on the way down to the pool, but I'll carry you into the water like I have done ever since you started swimming again after your amputation," said Spencer.

Olivia smiled as she thought about her husband having to carry her to bed when they were done consummating their marriage before he went to fetch her prosthetic leg, "I like having my own doctor to carry me around."

A few minutes later Spencer had changed into a pair of swum trunks and a Washington D.C. t-shirt while Olivia changed into a bikini before Spencer kept in step with his wife who was quickly swinging herself on her crutches towards the room that had an indoor swimming pool and a hot tub.

Xxxx

As soon as they reached the room where the pool and hot tub were, Olivia placed one crutch onto a nearby lounge chair before she looked at her husband, "I'm ready for you to lift me."

Spencer gently scooped up his life into a bridal carry as Olivia dropped the other crutch before he slowly walked towards the stairs of the hot tub and walked down into the three-foot six-inch deep water just like they did during the first time they were dating and while they were engaged, "Ready for me to let you go?" asked Spencer.

"Yes," said Olivia.

A few seconds later Spencer let his wife float on her back in the water so she could swim to the bench. As soon as Olivia was sitting down, he sat down next to his wife.

Olivia rubbed her husband's upper arms, "Even though I'm mad that you were left without backup and got shot above the knee, I'm glad that all that crutch walking you had to do made your arms and shoulders get stronger."

"I know that my arms are going to keep on getting stronger every time I have to carry you around while we'll eventually have our first child to carry around too," said Spencer as kissed his wife.

"I just can't wait to see you work your magic as a daddy because you're great with our niece, nephew, your boss's son, your godson, and your second cousin," said Olivia as she gave her husband a French kiss.

At that moment there was some movement in the water while someone cleared their voice causing Spencer and Olivia to see an elderly couple.

"Save the making out for in your hotel room," said the elderly woman in Ukrainian.

Olivia and Spencer who had spent the past five months learning Ukrainian blushed as he understood what was said before he and Olivia both apologized in Ukrainian, "Sorry."

"Are you two from America?" asked the woman in Ukrainian.

Olivia nodded as she spoke in fluent Ukrainian, "We just got married two days ago and we decided to go on our honeymoon here."

"Congratulations. We live in a village an hour away from here and we're currently spending our 50th wedding anniversary here in Lviv," said the woman in Ukrainian.

"Why did you two choose to spend your honeymoon here in Ukraine than go on your honeymoon in Paris, France, London, United Kingdom, or Rome Italy?" asked the woman's husband in Ukrainian.

Olivia smiled as she continued speaking Ukrainian, "I served in the Peace Corps here in Lviv from 2005 to 2007, so I vowed to take my future husband here on our honeymoon so I can show him the city I spent two years in."

"Now that's a good reason to spend your honeymoon in Lviv," said the husband in Ukrainian.

A minute later both married couples spent the next ten minutes talking about their careers before Spencer helped his wife get into the swimming pool so they could swim some laps to cool down before they went to their hotel room to clean up before making their dinner reservations.

Xxxx

Later on that night, Spencer exited the bathroom with only a pair of pajama pants on only to find Olivia wearing lingerie he had never seen before while her prosthetic leg was already on the floor beside her side of the bed.

"I thought that we can spend our first night in Ukraine breaking out one of the lingerie that I got during a lingerie party that Marissa and Danielle threw for me while you, Edmund, and Detective LaMontagne Jr. took Brayden, Henry, and Jack to the Great Wolf Lodge for a child-friendly bachelor party," said Olivia seductively.

Spencer smiled as he walked over to his wife and joined her in bed to start a heated make-out session while they made sure to use latex-free condoms since they weren't ready to try for a baby yet.

Xxxx

The next morning Spencer and Olivia woke up to their wake-up call when a naked Olivia groaned as she looked at her husband who was still naked from the activities they did the night before, "I don't know about you, but after the exhausting day we had yesterday, instead of visiting a bunch of Catholic churches I just feel like spending the morning in our hotel room before it's time for us to join a few of my former students for lunch while we do a bit of sightseeing before we attend a "Swan Lake" performance at the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre," said Olivia.

Spencer smiled, "Should I get us room service so we don't forget to eat?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "We're going to need our energy," said Olivia before realizing that her bladder was full, "Can you grab my crutches, Doc?" asked Olivia.

Spencer got out of bed and made his way to his wife's side of the bed, "How about this, I carry you to the bathroom," said Spencer as he scooped up his naked wife into a bridal carry and carried her to the bathroom.

Xxxx

An hour and a half later, Spencer and Olivia who had full stomachs from breakfast were working off their breakfast as they spent the morning being like rabbits before they met up with a few of Olivia's former students for lunch.

Xxxx

Later on that night, Spencer and Olivia were dressed to the nines in a tuxedo or a floor-length ballgown as they attended a "Swan Lake" performance at the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Xxxx

The next evening Spencer and Olivia returned to their hotel room after spending an exhausting day visiting the Lviv House of Scientists, Territory of Horror Memorial Museum, Lviv Literary Memorial Museum when Olivia's iPad gave of a Skype call alert causing Olivia to smile when she realized that it was her mother-in-law causing her to do the math and realize that it was 8 A.M. in Las Vegas while it's currently 6 P.M. in Lviv, "It's mom wanting to Skype with us," said Olivia.

Spencer smiled as he thought about his mother learning how to use Skype so she could video chat with him and Olivia so she's used to Skyping with them when she finally becomes a grandmother, "Let's accept it."

A minute later Spencer and Olivia were sitting on their bed and smiled when they saw Diana's face on Olivia's iPad causing them to speak in unison, "Hi, mom," said Spencer and Olivia in unison.

"How's Lviv?" asked Diana.

"It's very beautiful here, mom. Aside from touring churches tomorrow, we're going to be visiting Lviv High Castle on Friday and go to the top while we're going to be emailing dad all the pictures we took so he can show you," said Spencer.

"That sounds like some great adventures for the next two days, but what have you two done so far?" asked Diana.

At that moment Spencer and Olivia took turns telling Diana about every place they visited together and the Ukrainian cuisine they experienced so far.

When they were finished, Spencer's stomach growled

Diana smiled, "Based on it being 8:30 A.M. here in Las Vegas and it being evening in Lviv, I should let you two go so you two can fill your stomachs before you two work on giving me a grandchild."

Spencer blushed, "We're not going to be trying for a baby for a couple of months, mom."

"You two can still practice like you've two been. Just have Olivia do a better job of covering up the hickeys you two gave each other, Spencer," said Diana before signing off before Spencer and Olivia could voice their embarrassment.

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were off to a nearby restaurant for dinner before they spent the next few hours following Diana's suggestion on practicing for a baby.

Xxx

Two days later, Spencer and Olivia both reached the top of what's left of the Lviv High Castle and both took deep breaths as they drank the bottled water they packed.

Spencer who was rubbing his bad knee that was covered with a brace to be safe looked at his wife, "That was quite the climb."

Olivia nodded, "I've done this climb over five times when I lived here for two years. I'm grateful that I decided to wear the prosthetic leg I wear for running for this climb."

"We'll need to go to the hotel's spa after we go back down for massages," said Spencer "I agree," said Olivia as she took out her camera and took a bunch of pictures of the view before a local offered to take hers and Spencer's picture of them with Lviv in the background.

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer and Olivia were in the hotel's spa getting massages as they talked about what souvenirs they want to buy when they went shopping the next day.

Xxxx

The next day in Lviv, Olivia looked at her husband as they walked around Rynok Square as they each carried a few bags of souvenirs, "Even though this section is called Rynok Square, this square is actually a rectangle," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I read that this square has the measurements of 142 meters by 129 meters."

"Exactly," said Olivia before looking at the buildings, "A fire on June 3rd in 1527 destroyed most of the city causing this city to be built in Renaissance style despite the few remaining examples of Gothic architecture."

"Wasn't the pavement redone here during your time in the Peace Corps too?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes," said Olivia before they stopped in front of the Black House causing her to tell her husband the history of the house that was built for Tomaso Alberti in 1577 as they walked through the Black House.

After being able to tour the Black House, then Spencer and Olivia spent the next few hours touring the Korniakt Palace.

Xxxx

The next afternoon Spencer and Olivia had just finished attending Mass at the Catholic Church they decided to attend Mass at after spending Thursday touring Catholic churches just entered the Lviv International Airport when Olivia's eyes went wide when she saw that her husband was leading her to the gate that led to a plane that would take them to Paris, France, "Why are we going to Paris, France? What happened to us flying back to the States today?" asked Olivia.

"The morning of our wedding, Rossi told me that he booked us two days in Paris, France as an additional wedding gift for us because of us adopting our Basset Hound Lafayette and learning that we both loved "The Aristocats" as children," said Spencer.

Olivia thought about her husband having to explain why he was going to Ukraine to the F.B.I. and having to do the same thing when they landed and presented their passports when they arrived in Lviv, "Does the Bureau know about our trip to Paris?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Rossi took care of everything."

Olivia grinned, "Do you think that we can see if we can go to the top of the Eiffel Tower?" asked Olivia.

"Rossi got us tickets," said Spencer.

Xxxx

Two hours later Spencer and Olivia were on their flight to Paris, France.

Xxxx

The next evening in Paris France, Spencer and Olivia who were both resting their feet after going to the Louvre Museum, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, getting a picture of them in front of the Eiffel Tower, touring the Notre-Dame Cathedral and visiting the Palace of Versailles were now drinking coffee and eating madeleines because of the book "Remembrance Things of Past"/"In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust when a woman with shoulder-length nearly black hair and brown eyes entered the coffee shop causing Spencer's eyes to go wide as he blinked a few times as he realized that he was seeing hallucinations of his dead teammate Emily, "I'm going to be 30 in 55 days, so this can't be happening to me now," muttered Spencer.

"Spencer?" asked Olivia.

"I think I'm having a schizophrenic break because I'm hallucinating Emily right now. I see her in line ordering coffee right now," whispered Spencer as he quickly stood up and ran out of the coffee shop before Olivia could react.

Olivia blinked in bewilderment as she watched her husband run off and looked around the coffee shop before her eyes went wide when she saw a supposedly dead Emily Prentiss standing ten feet away from her ordering coffee in French causing her to realize that Agent Hotchner and Agent Jareau must have faked Emily Prentiss's death and made her, her husband, Ambassador Prentiss, Garcia, Morgan, Rossi, and the rest of the world believe that Emily Prentiss is dead causing her to loudly swear, "Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Dun, dun, dun. Some drama is going to be happening in the next chapter.


	3. Not a Hallucination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first saw It Takes A Village, I was like why didn't Spencer believe that he was having a schizophrenic break when Emily walked into the conference room. So I decided that I needed Spencer to have some type of reaction in this story.
> 
> Some swear words will be said in this chapter.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE WILL BE MENTIONED PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Previously in chapter two

The next evening in Paris France, Spencer and Olivia who were both resting their feet after going to the Louvre Museum, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, getting a picture of them in front of the Eiffel Tower, touring the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and visiting the Palace of Versailles were now drinking coffee and eating madeleines because of the book "Remembrance Things of Past"/"In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust when a woman with shoulder-length nearly black hair and brown eyes entered the coffee shop causing Spencer's eyes to go wide as he blinked a few times as he realized that he was seeing hallucinations of his dead teammate Emily, "I'm going to be 30 in 55 days, so this can't be happening to me now," muttered Spencer.

"Spencer?" asked Olivia.

"I think I'm having a schizophrenic break because I'm hallucinating Emily right now. I see her in line ordering coffee right now," whispered Spencer as he quickly stood up and ran out of the coffee shop before Olivia could react.

Olivia blinked in bewilderment as she watched her husband run off and looked around the coffee shop before her eyes went wide when she saw a supposedly dead Emily Prentiss standing ten feet away from her ordering coffee in French causing her to realize that Agent Hotchner and Agent Jareau must have faked Emily Prentiss's death and made her, her husband, Ambassador Prentiss, Garcia, Morgan, Rossi, and the rest of the world believe that Emily Prentiss is dead causing her to loudly swear, "Fuck.”

Xxxxx

Emily Prentiss heard someone loudly say fuck causing her to turn around and recognized Dr. Olivia Reid from the time she met Olivia in Ukraine and the live-feed footage she watched of Spencer's and Olivia's wedding causing her to realize that Spencer and Olivia who were supposed to be back in the United States right now decided to spend a few days in Paris, France and JJ didn't have time to warn her during their latest online Scrabble game causing her to loudly speak, "Fuck," said Emily as she quickly gave the barista some money and rushed over to Olivia and dragged her out of the coffee shop, "Don't speak until we're somewhere private."

Xxxx

As soon as Olivia was in Emily's apartment, Olivia glared at Emily, "You, Agent Hotchner, and Agent Jareau are all fucking idiots for deciding to fake your death during a time that Spencer is doubting his own sanity. I know that Spencer told you about his migraines, but did he ever tell you that he's been going to multiple doctors due to believing that he finally inherited paranoid schizophrenia even though he's been told that he's not schizophrenic and his migraines might be stress-related?" asked Olivia furiously.

Emily paled as she realized that JJ and Hotch should have never faked her death or read Spencer in because of Spencer's mother being a paranoid schizophrenic meaning that Spencer had a chance of becoming schizophrenic like his mother, "Fuck," said Emily before sighing, "I didn't even have a choice because Hotch and JJ signed the paperwork to fake my death before I woke up from surgery."

Olivia glared at Emily as she yelled, "WE NEED TO FIND SPENCER NOW! HE HAS EITHER WENT TO THE NEAREST HOSPITAL TO COMMIT HIMSELF IN A PSYCH WARD OR IN THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO HE IS GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE SO I WON'T HAVE TO BE A CARETAKER FOR HIM LIKE HE WAS FOR MY MOTHER-IN-LAW!"

At that moment Olivia's cell phone rang causing her to see that it was her husband as she answered her phone frantically as angry tears fell down her face, "Where are you, Spencer?" asked Olivia.

"I'm Officer Beaumont. Is this Spencer's wife Olivia?" asked officer Beaumont in accented English.

"Yes. Is Spencer OK?" asked Olivia.

"Your husband is on the way to the nearest hospital to stay in a psychiatric ward for a few days because I found him on a bench talking to himself. He was muttering that he just had a schizophrenic outbreak and he didn't want to be a burden on you and he might as well kill himself," said Officer Beaumont.

"Spencer isn't a paranoid schizophrenic and I'll explain to you why as soon as you tell me which hospital Spencer is heading to so I can be there for him," said Olivia.

Officer Beaumont quickly gave the address of the hospital before Olivia hung up and glared at Emily, "Thanks to Agent Hotchner's, and Agent Jareau's pure stupidity of faking your death, Spencer was found on a bunch muttering about wanting to kill himself so he wouldn't be a burden to me and is going to be staying in a psych ward for a few days."

Emily gasped as tears started to leak from her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

"I can't forgive you, Agent Hotchner, and Agent Jareau right now because Spencer's personal and professional futures might be ruined if you, Agent Hotchner, and Agent Jareau don't come clean before Spencer ends up being institutionalized for the rest of his life," said Olivia firmly.

Emily quickly took hold of Olivia's hand, "Let's go."

A minute later Olivia and Emily were heading to the hospital that Olivia was told to report to while Emily used Olivia's phone to get hold of Hotch.

Xxxx

A half-hour later, Olivia and Emily were sitting in Dr. Pierre Allard's office when Olivia looked at Officer Beaumont and the psychiatrist who told her that her husband was currently sedated and having an M.R.I. looked through her husband's medical records on Olivia's iPad, "Since introductions were already made, Jacqueline will be telling you why my husband believed that he was having a schizophrenic break and was thinking about committing suicide," said Olivia before giving Emily a look that said 'you better tell the truth so Spencer's future isn't ruined'.

"OK," said Dr. Allard.

Emily took a breath as she told Dr. Allard and Officer Beaumont her real identity and that her death was faked over five months ago and how two of her former coworkers didn't tell her teammates the truth.

Xxxx

When Emily was done telling Dr. Allard the truth, Dr. Allard looked at Emily with an icy look in his eyes, "Based Dr. Reid's mother being a paranoid schizophrenic and him being afraid about becoming schizophrenic like his mother; he should have never been told that you died. The reaction he had could have caused him to be diagnosed as schizophrenic if his wife didn't force you to come clean."

Emily nodded as tears fell down her face, "I realized that when Olivia told me how much Spencer has been worrying about his health since January."

Olivia looked at Dr. Allard, "Since my husband was brought in as soon as he mentioned that he might as well just commit suicide, what's going to happen to him? I need to be back in the United States by August 21st since I need to get everything ready for the fall semester at Georgetown University on August 22nd."

"Since your husband hasn't attempted suicide yet, your husband just needs to stay here for a 72-hour psych hold to make sure that he doesn't hurt himself before we fly him home to Washington D.C. so he can stay in an inpatient psychiatric ward in Washington D.C. for a few days. I also want him to be prescribed the anti-anxiety medication that's been offered to him to help him with the anxiety he's been dealing with since his migraines have started," said Dr. Allard.

"I understand," said Olivia.

At that moment Dr. Allard's computer let out a chime causing him to see that he received the scans from Spencer's MRI, "I got your husband's MRI scans back."

"How are they?" asked Olivia.

"No tumors, aneurysms, cysts, or schizophrenia while I do see that the MRI scan does show that he does have Asperger's syndrome," said Dr. Allard.

Olivia nodded, "Spencer and I already know about the diagnosis since we both have it."

Emily looked at Olivia in shock, "I didn't know that."

"Only Aaron and David both know that we both have Asperger's syndrome," said Olivia before looking at her left leg, "Being autistic and a below the knee amputee wasn't going to stop me from working for the Peace Corps for two years and becoming a mathematics professor just like Spencer wasn't going to let his genetics stop him from joining the F.B.I."

Xxxxx

Six and a half hours later Spencer woke up in a hospital bed and realized that he was restrained as he tried to reach for his glasses just as he felt them be slipped onto the bridge of his nose causing him to see Olivia, "What happened?" asked Spencer.

"You were found on a park bench muttering that you just had a schizophrenic break and you wanted to commit suicide, so the officer who found you had you brought here for your own safety," said Olivia gently.

Tears started to leak from Spencer's eyes, "I'm so sorry, Livy, but I don't want to be a burden to you if I'm told that I finally am a paranoid schizophrenic like my mom."

"Even if you were diagnosed with schizophrenia, I would never leave you because I vowed to you that I would be there for you 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part' ten days ago," said Olivia before squeezing her husband's hand, "You need to stop believing that you have schizophrenia because you don't have schizophrenia."

"If I don't have schizophrenia, then why was I seeing my dead teammate?" asked Spencer.

Olivia took a deep breath, "It turns out that Agent Hotchner and Agent Jareau faked Emily's death and Emily has been living in Paris ever since she was cleared to travel," said Olivia as she recounted Emily pulling her out of the coffee shop and everything she yelled at Emily.

Xxx

When Olivia was done recounting her time with Emily up until the phone call, Spencer who was too drained to react about Emily's death being faked looked at his wife, "If Emily is alive, where is she?" asked Spencer.

"She's waiting in the waiting room because the staff members and I told her that she can't see you until we both give her permission to see you while Agent Hotchner will be here in an hour since Agent Prentiss called him from my cell phone," said Olivia.

"Can you bring Emily in so I can make sure that she's real?" asked Spencer.

"Sure," said Olivia before she left her husband's hospital room.

A few minutes later, Olivia returned to her husband's room with Emily in tow.

"Hello, handsome," said Emily as she walked over to Spencer's bed and took hold of his restrained hand and squeezed it.

Spencer felt the warmth from Emily's hand, "You're real."

"I'm so sorry that you had to find out that I'm alive this way. If I knew that you thought that you were having a schizophrenic break as soon as you saw me again, I would have made sure that you were read in since having a schizophrenic parent should have forced you to be read in so you wouldn't believe that you're having a schizophrenic break," said Emily before smiling towards Olivia, "Your wedding was very beautiful while I was bawling the entire time."

"How did you watch the wedding?" asked Spencer.

"Interpol sent an agent undercover as a Deacon. He had a hidden camera on him so I could watch the wedding while it was going on from my apartment," said Emily.

"Did you see that your mother attended the wedding?" asked Spencer.

Emily nodded, "I was surprised, but then I remembered that my mom was stationed in Lviv, Ukraine when Olivia was in the Peace Corps in Ukraine."

"Does your mother know the truth about you being alive?" asked Spencer.

"She doesn't," said Emily.

Spencer glared at the restraints as he kept himself from flashing back to being handcuffed to a wooden chair, "Can these restraints be removed?" asked Spencer.

Olivia gave her husband a sad smile as she shook her head, "I tried fighting against you being restrained, but I'm sorry to tell you that you're being restrained for your own safety. You're going to be staying here for the next 64 hours for suicide watch until we're flown back to D.C. where you'll be hospitalized in a psychiatric ward for a few days until it's decided that you aren't going to hurt yourself while you agree to go to therapy and take the anti-anxiety medication you've been offered to be prescribed to treat the anxiety you've been dealing with since your migraines started." 

"If the F.B.I. hears that I was planning to kill myself, I'm most likely going to be fired," said Spencer as tears leaked from his eyes.

"Even if you get fired, you're still going to be OK since I vowed that I would never leave you again," said Olivia as she stroked her husband's hair as she started to softly sing Bon Jovi's song "Livin' on a Prayer" causing her husband to be asleep as soon as she finished singing.

Xxx

Two hours later Hotch entered the hospital room that Olivia told him to go to with an on-call psychiatrist who escorted him into Spencer's hospital room causing him to see a sleeping Spencer restrained to a hospital bed, "How is he?" asked Hotch.

"We managed to convince him that he's not schizophrenic, but it's predicted that he'll be hospitalized for at least a week until it's deemed that Spencer isn't going to run off and commit suicide while he takes the anti-anxiety medication that's going to be prescribed to him," said Olivia before she stood up and quickly walked over to Hotch and slapped him hard on the cheek "I don't care if you arrest me for slapping a federal agent, but I hope you know that you and Agent Jareau are fucking idiots for faking Agent Prentiss's death during a time that Spencer is doubting his own sanity even though Agent Prentiss told me that it was for everyone's safety. As someone who became an orphan at 20-years-old, I always wished that my parents can come back, but they can't since they were shot right between the eyes by that bank robber and I saw their dead bodies when I kissed their foreheads that had bullet wounds right between the eyes before the mortician had them cremated. So finding out that Emily is actually alive is a low blow for me because I'll never get my parents back while I hope that you can come up with a good explanation to Jack when your son finds out that Emily is alive and came home while his own mother can't come back to him," ranted a furious Olivia before noticing that her husband had opened his eyes at her ranting causing her to slip his glasses onto the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry if I woke you up, Spencer."

"It's OK. I knew that you were going to be the no-nonsense wife I married and lecture my unit chief about his actions," croaked Spencer.

Olivia looked at her husband's attending psychiatrist, "Go ahead and call security on me, Dr. Allard."

Dr. Allard shook his head, "I'm not going to call security on you because Agent Hotchner deserved that slap from you, Mrs. Reid," said Dr. Allard before looking at Agent Hotchner, "You should never tell someone who has a history of paranoid schizophrenia in his or her family that you faked a colleague's death. You should be very lucky that someone brought your colleague in as soon as he admitted that he should just kill himself or you would have been forced to explain to your boss and Dr. Reid's parents that you had faked a colleague's death and Dr. Reid killed himself during his honeymoon because he thought that he was hallucinating his dead colleague who's actually alive and didn't want to be a burden his wife, family, and friends before he could be told that he's not schizophrenic."

Hotch sighed, "I realized that I should have thought through the repercussions of faking Agent Prentiss's death when Agent Prentiss called me and told me what happened," said Hotch before looking at Spencer who was glaring daggers at him while his usually warm brown eyes that could get him to cave in were now cold-looking, "I'm sorry for not thinking about how you would handle the news about Emily actually being alive before allowing JJ to tell everyone that Emily never made it off the table."

Spencer scoffed as tears leaked from his eyes, "It's too late because I'm already labeled as suicidal instead of schizophrenic and I'll most likely be fired from the F.B.I. for admitting that I wanted to commit suicide."

"When I talked to Chief Strauss earlier, she told me to tell you that you aren't going to be fired while you don't have to give your decision about your job until September 23rd now. She also ripped me a new one for faking Prentiss's death and performing the grief assessment myself instead of allowing her to bring in a professional who has training on giving grief counseling to someone on the autism spectrum," said Hotch.

Spencer glared at Hotch, "You and Jennifer better tell the rest of the team about Emily being alive."

Olivia nodded, "I agree that the rest of the team should know the truth because Penelope is still devastated about Emily even though Spencer's and my wedding have cheered her up a bit while Derek is still blaming himself about not getting to Emily on time."

Emily nodded at Hotch, "Even though I know that I'll have to be moved with a new identity until Doyle is found, the rest of the team deserve to know that I'm alive since I'm done hurting everyone I love by making them believe that I'm dead and what happened with Reid over eight hours ago proves that the entire team should know the truth."

Hotch sighed, "I'll have JJ read them in since Chief Strauss told me that the rest of the team should know."

"Morgan, Garcia, Rossi, and Jennifer better not find out that I was planning on committing suicide," said Spencer.

"They won't find out unless you choose to tell them yourself," said Hotch.

Spencer took a breath, "Also, as soon as I'm cleared to no longer be a threat to myself and I'm allowed to work again, I'm going to be resigning the F.B.I. altogether and never work for the government again since I don't trust you, Prentiss, and Jennifer with my life anymore. Now I want you and Prentiss to leave."


	4. A Shaky Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts a week after the last chapter on August 23rd of 2011, so Spencer who has been hospitalized for three days in Paris and four days in Washington D.C. before being released into Olivia's watchful care in the afternoon of August 22nd of 2011.

Spencer and Olivia had just finished eating breakfast and gave Lafayette a piece of bacon when the doorbell rang causing Lafayette to howl.

"We need to break him out of howling when the doorbell rings," said Olivia.

Spencer who was wearing khaki pants and a purple polo shirt looked his wife who was wearing a turquoise colored broomstick skirt that reached the middle of her legs and a white short-sleeved blouse while her armpit length strawberry-blonde hair was in its usual side braid, "Should we try out the webcam that your brother installed for us?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes."

A few seconds later Spencer was using the iPad Olivia convinced him to get and uploaded the security cam footage at the front door causing him to groan when he saw that it was JJ, "It's JJ. She has already left me numerous voice-mails and text messages since I got my cell phone back yesterday."

"Do you want to answer the door?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "No. Do you want to?" asked Spencer.

Olivia shook her head, "She and Aaron lied to everyone about Emily causing you to believe that you were having a schizophrenic break and wanted to attempt suicide when we accidentally ran into her during our honeymoon. You need to focus on yourself before you talk to Jennifer and Aaron about them lying to you."

At that moment the doorbell rang again causing Spencer to look at his iPad and see JJ was still at the door while his cell phone rang causing him to see that it was JJ calling him again causing him to groan, "I don't think that she's going to give up."

Olivia who was looking at her iPad smiled a bit when she saw her brother crossing the street, "I think that she will give up soon."

Spencer looked at his iPad and noticed his brother-in-law coming towards JJ, "Since Edmund set up our security system, did he decide to have the system alert him every time we have someone ring our doorbell so he can deal with unwanted guests and anyone who wants to get revenge on me?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Even though Edmund approves you as a suitable husband for me, he's still protective of me and wants to make sure that this house is safe like Fort Knox, Fort Detrick, and your workplace."

Spencer looked at the iPad, "Since Edmund is about to deal with Jennifer himself, should we use this time to quickly leave for Georgetown University so I can help you set up your office?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "This would be our chance to escape."

Xxx

Meanwhile, outside of Spencer's and Olivia's house, JJ was about to ring the doorbell for the third time and call Spencer a second time when someone put a hand on her shoulder causing her to see Olivia's brother wearing his fatigues, "Since Spence won't let me inside his house and won't answer the phone, will you use your key to let me inside so I can talk to Spence before going to work, Edmund?" asked JJ.

Edmund took a breath as he looked at the woman who had caused his brother-in-law a quite of bit of pain as he spoke in the commanding voice he used to his troops or when he tells his kids to do something when they won't listen, "It's Lieutenant Colonel Hartford to you, Agent Jareau."

JJ gave Edmund sad eyes, "I really need to talk to Spence. Can you please use your key to get me inside since Spence didn't give any of his teammates or me a key to his new house?" asked JJ.

Edmund shook his head, "After everything you pulled the last couple of months when it came to trying to break up my sister and brother-in-law and lying about a teammate's fate in the operating room, I'm not going to let you into my sister's house unless Spencer and Olivia allow you inside themselves. You need to give Spencer the space he needs from you so he can work on recovering emotionally from the lie you told him causing him to believe that he had a schizophrenic break when he saw his supposedly dead teammate during his honeymoon."

"You know the truth?" asked JJ.

Edmund nodded, "My ranking in the army allowed Agent Hotchner to give my sister permission to tell me the truth when Olivia had to call me and let me know that they had to stay in Paris for a few more days," said Edmund before the garage door opened just as Olivia's car that was being driven by Olivia with Spencer in the front passenger seat was pulling out fo the garage before the garage shut, "Since my sister and brother-in-law just left the house, you need to leave the premises before a neighbor who's part of the Neighborhood Watch program calls the police on you for spending too much time on the porch."

Xxxx

Five hours later Spencer and Olivia were home from setting up Olivia's office and going out for lunch and were relaxing on the couch for a bit as they watched the news about Hurricane Irene now heading towards the East Coast of the United States causing them to talk about boarding up their windows and getting supplies to last them through the possible hurricane when Lafayette woke up from his nap and let out a howl at Spencer and Olivia who were about to run him so they could head to Spencer's outpatient therapy appointment.

"What's wrong, Lafayette?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette let out another howl as he ran towards the library while howling.

"We should go follow him to make sure that he's not going to have an accident in our library," said Spencer.

30 seconds later Spencer and Olivia found Lafayette shaking underneath the table as he continued to howl causing Spencer and Olivia to exchange worried glances before Olivia joined Lafayette underneath the table and sat down next to Lafayette.

"What's wrong, Lafayette?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette let out a growl as he got out from underneath the table and made his way to Spencer and pulled him by the pant leg as he tried to pull his master to the table and went underneath again.

"Do you want me to join your mommy and you underneath the table?" asked Spencer.

Lafayette let out a bark.

"Then I'll listen to you," said Spencer as he joined his wife and Basset hound underneath the table before Lafayette got onto his mother's lap and rested his head on Olivia's prosthetic leg.

As soon as Spencer was sitting in a pretzel-legged position despite having to curve his back, he looked at his wife who now had Lafayette on her lap, "I just wonder why our three-year-old Basset hound forced to get underneath this table?" asked Spencer.

At that moment the ground started shaking as books, figurines, and framed pictures fell off the bookshelves and walls as they heard their brand new drinking glasses breaking in the kitchen causing Spencer and Olivia to realize that an earthquake was happening.

"Lafayette must have known that an earthquake was about to happen," said Olivia as she looked at her husband who was staying calm like her since they've both dealt with earthquakes while living in Pasadena, "Even though we already know that I'll possibly be dealing with my first hurricane in about four days, I thought that earthquakes never happen here?" asked Olivia.

"They never do," said Spencer before looking down at Lafayette, "I heard that dogs and many other animals being able to sense when storms or earthquakes are about to hit."

Olivia nodded as the earthquake stopped causing her to look down at her Basset hound who was shaking in her arms, "Thank you for alerting us that an earthquake was about to hit and got us underneath a table before the earthquake started, Lafayette. As soon as daddy and I clean up the damage from the earthquake, we'll make sure to take you to the nearest pet store and spoil you rotten."

Spencer thought about his 34-week pregnant sister-in-law who decided to wait with opening up her veterinary clinic until January 2nd since it didn't pay to open up a clinic and then close the clinic down for a few months to give birth and bond with the baby, "We should probably stay under here for a few more minutes before we survey the damage and check on Danielle since Abigail and Brayden are at school and Edmund is at work."

Olivia shook her head, "We should check on Danielle now since this earthquake could have caused her to go into premature labor while I know that Edmund is most likely going to rush to Our Lady of Victory School to check on Abigail and Brayden," said Olivia as she looked at all their books that were scattered on the floor, "We can start cleaning up the damage later."

Xxx

Five minutes later Spencer and Olivia were rushing across the street with Lafayette on a leash and used their key to unlock the door of the Hartford family home and unarmed the security system only to find Danielle laying on the floor between the living room and dining room as she groaned in pain.

"Danielle, are you OK?" asked Olivia as she and her husband knelt down by their sister-in-law.

"I don't think that I broke any bones, but my water broke during the earthquake," gasped Danielle.

Olivia's eyes went wide as she pulled out her cell phone and groaned when she saw that there was no service, "We should get you in our car now, Danielle."

Danielle shook her head, "I feel the baby coming now, so I need to push within the next few minutes."

Spencer looked at his wife, "Before my godson was born, I read labor and delivery manuals just in case Jennifer went into labor in the field. So maybe we can try to deliver our niece or nephew on our own."

"We'll have to trust Spencer, so do you think that we can quickly get you into bed or a chair?" asked Olivia.

Danielle nodded as she allowed her brother-in-law to help her get into the bed in the first-floor guest bedroom while Olivia gathered the necessary supplies they needed.

Two minutes later Danielle was leaning herself against her sister-in-law while Spencer positioned himself by the foot of the bed, "I need to push now, Spencer."

"Then push as hard as you can, Danielle," said Spencer.

"OK," said Danielle as she pushed as she screamed in pain before leaning against her sister-in-law.

Xxxx

After ten minutes of pushing, Spencer smiled at his sister-in-law, "Congratulations, Danielle, you and Edmund will get to tell Brayden that he has a little brother."

Olivia looked at her sister-in-law as she helped her husband clean up their nephew, "What are you going to name him?" asked Olivia.

"Even though Edmund and I had a name planned out, your brand new nephew deserves to be named Spencer Oliver Hartford since you two helped little Spencer and me," said Danielle.

"Speaking of you and my husband's namesake, we should get you to the hospital because little Spencer needs to be checked over immediately since he ended up being born six-weeks early and might have to spend some time in the NICU," said Olivia.

Danielle groaned as she felt another contraction, "But first, I think that I need to deliver the placenta and get it in a bag or jar."

A few minutes later Danielle had delivered the placenta before she allowed Spencer and Olivia to take her to Georgetown University Hospital while leaving Lafayette with a neighbor.

Xxxx

45 minutes later Spencer and Olivia were sitting by Danielle's hospital bed when Edmund rushed into his wife's hospital room, "I heard that you went into premature labor during the earthquake, Danielle. Are you and the baby OK?" asked Edmund as he hugged his wife.

Danielle nodded as tears fell down her face, "Spencer Oliver Hartford is a healthy five and a half pounds and a 20-inch long baby boy who looks like you, but because of being born at 34-weeks he has to spend two weeks in the NICU."

Edmund released a few tears, "We have another son?" asked Edmund.

Danielle nodded, "Yes."

"Why Spencer Oliver Hartford?" asked Edmund.

"Our brother-in-law delivered his nephew himself while your sister supported me while I gave birth after they found me in labor, so our newborn son deserves to be named after his aunt and uncle instead of his late paternal grandfather," said Danielle.

"Spencer Oliver Hartford is perfect, Danielle," said Edmund as he hugged his sister and brother-in-law, "Thank you so much for quickly checking on Danielle and getting her through labor."

"Danielle's my sister by marriage, so I wasn't going to not focus on cleaning up all the broken glass that we'll have to clean up or start re-shelving books when I know that my priority would be checking on my pregnant sister-in-law right after the earthquake," said Olivia.

"How's Lafayette doing?" asked Edmund.

"Lafayette is doing fine since forced us to join him underneath a table ten seconds before the earthquake started," said Spencer.

"You two better be planning on spoiling that hound for getting you two to safety," said Edmund.

"We will be," said Olivia.

"Either way, I'm glad that you four, Abigail, and Brayden are all going to be OK," said Edmund.

"Speaking of Abigail and Brayden, where are they? Did they get injured in the earthquake?" asked Danielle.

"Just some cuts that didn't require any stitches. They're currently in the waiting room since I wanted to check on you first and make sure that you were OK before dealing with our worried and scared ten-year-old twins," said Edmund.

"Please send them in," said Danielle.

"I'll be right back," said Edmund as he left his wife's hospital room and quickly went to gather Abigail and Brayden.

A minute later Abigail and Brayden who were still in their school uniforms slowly walked into their mother's hospital room.

"Dad said that the earthquake caused you to go into labor, mom," said Abigail as she hugged her mother.

"I did go into labor and your Aunt Olivia and Uncle Spencer delivered the baby themselves before bringing me and your newest sibling in," said Danielle as she allowed her two oldest kids to crawl into either side of her hospital bed.

Abigail looked at her aunt and uncle, "You two really delivered a baby together?" asked Abigail.

"I've read labor and deliver manuals three years ago, so I knew what to do," said Spencer.

Brayden looked at his mother, "Did Abigail and I get a little brother or a little sister?" asked Brayden.

"Spencer Oliver Hartford was born healthy, but he's currently in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the next two weeks since he was born at 34-weeks," said Danielle.

Brayden punched his fist up in the air, "I finally get a brother."

Abigail groaned, "I was hoping for a baby sister," said Abigail before looking at her aunt and uncle, "Can you two please get pregnant with a baby girl so I can have a female cousin to play with and help take care of?" asked Abigail.

Olivia laughed a bit, "As much as I want to get pregnant right now, your Uncle Spencer and I are not going to try for a baby for at least another month and a half since I'm about to start my new job at Georgetown University."

Spencer thought about Abigail and Brayden learning that he thought that he was having a schizophrenic break during his honeymoon and ended up being hospitalized for a week to be safe, "I just got out of the hospital yesterday and I'm not going to be cleared to work whatever job I choose until September 27th."

"Plus we just dealt with an earthquake today and there's been talk about Hurricane Irene possibly hitting us this weekend. So right now isn't a good time for us to give you a female cousin to play with right now since your Uncle Spencer and I have a lot of things to take care of personally and professionally while we need to make sure that our house is still intact after today's natural disaster and the possible natural disaster that's about to hit us this weekend, Abby," said Olivia gently.

Abigail sighed, "I understand."

Edmund looked at his two oldest children, "What do you two think about getting to view your baby brother from the window that lets us see all the babies in the NICU before you two go home with your aunt and uncle?" asked Edmund.

"You're not coming home with us, dad?" asked Abigail.

Edmund shook his head as he thought about his recent transfer from working at Fort Mcnair to The Pentagon because of the raise he was offered, "I want to stay here with your mother tonight while I'll be having to clean up the damage from the earthquake in my offices at The Pentagon and the National Defense University tomorrow," said Edmund before looking at his sister brother-in-law, "Speaking of Hurricane Irene, I already made arrangements for some of my soldiers to board up the windows at our houses if we end up getting a hurricane warning. If Hurricane Irene does hit us, I'll be deploying you two to watch Abigail and Brayden since I'll be needed to help with possible evacuations along both the Potomac River and Anacostia River while we all know that Danielle is going to want to spend every moment here with baby Spencer until baby Spencer gets discharged."

"I understand," said Spencer.

"We'll make sure to keep Abigail and Brayden safe, Edmund," said Olivia before looking at her niece and nephew, "Let's go home so we can work together on cleaning up the messes that the earthquake made inside both of our houses before we have a backyard camp out tonight."

"Just don't let Abigail and Brayden pick up broken glass," said Danielle.

"We won't," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Edmund, Abigail, and Brayden got to glance at Baby Spencer through the viewing window outside of the NICU before Spencer and Olivia took Abigail and Brayden to their neighborhood where Spencer and Olivia made sure to sweep up all the broken glass in both the Reid and Hartford family homes while Abigail and Brayden cleaned up any messes that didn't involve broken glass.

Xxxx

After spending the afternoon cleaning up the messes in both houses and Spencer contacted his parents, Aunt Ethel, Uncle Gordon to let them know that he and Olivia were safe after the earthquake and emailed them a picture of his new nephew; Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden were laying on a blanket outside of a tent in the Reid family backyard as Spencer showed his niece and nephew the constellations they could see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Some fluff of Spencer and Olivia being Aunt and Uncle to their niece and nephew is happening in the next chapter! Yes, I had to include the August 23rd of 2011 Virginia earthquake in this story. I have seen every episode of 9-1-1 Los Angeles and 9-1-1 Lone Star, so I know that dogs can realize that an earthquake is about to happen just like that small support dog who got a little girl to join him underneath the bar counter in the 9-1-1 season two episode 7.1 while one of my dogs can get anxious before a thunderstorm hits.


	5. Hurricane Warning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter that deals with Hurricane Irene affect Hurricane Irene survivors who read this chapter.
> 
> This chapter starts the day after the last chapter and lasts until August 28th of 2011.

Abigail looked at her aunt and uncle as they and her twin brother ate breakfast that they cooked over the fire pit in her aunt and uncle's backyard, "Do you two think that all your wedding guests who gifted you all those glass wedding gifts that broke during the earthquake are going to be angry if they find out that their gifts broke?" asked Abigail.

Spencer shook his head as he thought about the china set, coffee mugs, picture frames, and glass chess set that he and Olivia were gifted broke, "Not at all because yesterday's earthquake was extremely rare and no one knows when an earthquake is about to happen."

"Despite the money that our wedding guests spent on their wedding gifts to your uncle and me, they would just care that your uncle Spencer and I are alive since we aren't replaceable," said Olivia.

"Since we were also given the gift receipts, we'll just re-buy the wedding gifts that broke," said Spencer.

"Mom and dad told Abby and me that they'll be replacing everything that the earthquake broke too," said Brayden before looking at Lafayette who was drooling as they ate their breakfast, "When Hurricane Irene hits in a few days, are we going to let Lafayette outside?" asked Brayden.

Olivia smiled a bit, "Lafayette is trained to use the bathroom on potty pads, so we won't have to worry about taking him out in the rain."

A few minutes later everyone had finished eating breakfast causing Spencer and Olivia to force Abigail and Brayden to do the homework their teachers had given them the day before while they went over the lessons that Abigail and Brayden would have learned during school that day.

Xxx

Two mornings later Spencer who had the news playing on his iPad looked at his wife, niece, and nephew as they ate pancakes, scrambled eggs, and turkey bacon for breakfast, "Hurricane Irene has just started to impact Cape Lookout, North Carolina," said Spencer.

Abigail took a sip of her orange juice, "How much longer until it starts to storm here?" asked Abigail.

"Since Cape Lookout, North Carolina is seven hours and thirty-nine-minute drive from here, we won't be dealing with Hurricane Irene until tonight the earliest while it will be storming through the night and part of tomorrow."

"That gives us time to gather everything we want to take into our storm shelter and get all of the food that can spoil after the power goes out into coolers filled with ice," said Olivia.

Abigail thought about the house having a lower level that has one bedroom, a bathroom, laundry room, and a recreation room that will soon be a home to her uncle Spencer's father, the main level that they're currently eating breakfast on now, a second-level that has a laundry room, three bathrooms, four bedrooms because of her aunt Olivia and uncle Spencer asking her uncle Spencer's teammate Derek to turn the dressing room into an additional bedroom so there can be three bedrooms for her future cousins to sleep in instead of two, and a third-level that has two bedrooms and one bathroom for guests, "Which room are we going to hunker down in again?" asked Abigail.

"We're going to be taking cover in the lower level's laundry room since it's the only room that doesn't have any windows," said Spencer.

"Can we hitch up the tent we slept in three nights ago to make it seem like we're camping?" asked Brayden.

Olivia nodded, "If the lower level laundry room is big enough for our tent, we'll hitch the tent."

"But if the room isn't big enough for a tent, we'll grab all the pillows and blankets and make a big fort," said Spencer.

Brayden wrinkled his nose, "Abby and I are ten-years-old and a bit too old to build forts, uncle Spencer.

"Being a genius didn't give me that much of a childhood, so I love using my Ph. D. in engineering to build forts with Jack and Henry," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Don't forget about all the forts we built together during the past four summers you two stayed with me, so let's build a fort because your future cousin is going to request your help to build a fort in about three years."

Abigail looked at her aunt, "You're pregnant? asked Abigail.

Olivia chuckled, "It's only been three weeks since I married your uncle Spencer, so please let your uncle and me enjoy married life for a while we get to dote on you and your twin brother for a bit longer."

"Yes, ma'am," said Abigail.

Xxx

Two hours later Spencer and Olivia had filled all the house's bathtubs with water and delivered dog food, a gallon of tap water for Lafayette to drink, food, beverages, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, a battery-powered radio, a safe that held their important documents, a rotary dial phone, their first aid kit, Olivia's crutches, Olivia's additional prosthetic leg for running, clothes, books, all their pictures, various games to play were placing all their pillows and blanket into the laundry room when they heard Abigail scream causing them to rush upstairs to find a scared Brayden standing outside the bathroom.

"What's wrong with your sister, Brayden?" asked Olivia.

"Abby said she's bleeding and having some pain in her abdomen," said Brayden.

Olivia quickly realized what was going on causing her to look at her husband who had wide eyes as they both thought about their niece being a month away from turning 11 and knowing that girls between the ages of nine and as late as 15 start menstruating, "Please go find something to do with Brayden while I deal with Abigail."

A nervous Brayden looked at his aunt and uncle, "Will Abby have to go to the hospital?" asked Brayden.

Spencer shook his head, "Not at all, Brayden. Your sister and aunt just need to have some girl talk without men like us around. So let's go get some ice cream."

"OK, uncle Spencer," said Brayden as he followed his uncle.

"Don't forget to take your antacids," called out Olivia before she softly knocked on the half-bathroom door, "Abigail, can you please let me in?" asked Olivia gently.

"OK," sniffled Abigail.

A few seconds later Olivia saw the blood in her niece's underwear before reaching into the cabinet underneath the sink and pulled out her spare box of pads, "Has your mother ever tell you about getting your period yet?" asked Olivia.

Abigail nodded, "She talked to me about them when I was nine and told me that getting periods prepares my body for future motherhood," said Abigail before looking at the blood in her underwear, "So I got my first period."

Olivia nodded, "You're a month away from turning 11, so your mother and I knew that you would start menstruating within the next few years," said Olivia before smiling a bit, "Since your uncle and I told you and Brayden to shower before the hurricane starts, let's have you take a warm bath so you can ease your cramps with warm water and then I'll show you how to put a pad in your underwear."

"Yes, ma'am," said Abigail before looking at her aunt, "Can we call my mom and dad and tell them that I got my period before I take a bath?" asked Abigail.

"Are you sure that you want to tell your dad? Your uncle Spencer, your father, my uncles, and your late grandfather never talks to me about getting my period even though your late grandfather presented me a purity ring when I got my first period when I was 12 while my uncles gave me flowers when they found out," said Olivia.

"I just want to tell my dad that his little girl is growing up," said Abigail.

"OK," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Olivia was drawing Abigail a bath while Abigail took a few minutes to call her mom and dad to tell them that she got her first period.

Xxxx

45 minutes later Abigail was taking a bath in the bathtub in the third level bathroom when Spencer approached his wife who was texting with their sister-in-law and gave her a bouquet and a box of chocolates that he bought at Marissa's flower shop, "These are for you," said Spencer.

Olivia smiled as she looked at the bouquet of roses that her husband bought from Marissa's flower shop that was open until 3 P.M., "They're beautiful, Doc," said Olivia before noticing a second bouquet, "Who are those irises and box of chocolates for?" asked Olivia.

"Since I'm aware of Abigail getting her first period, I wanted to continue the Hartford family tradition of the uncle giving his niece flowers when a Hartford girl gets her first period while the father presents a purity ring," said Spencer before smiling a bit, "Plus I remember in one of your favorite books "The Agony of Alice", Alice was given flowers by her uncle when she got her first period when spending spring break with her Aunt Sally, Uncle Milt, and cousin Carol."

Olivia thought about her favorite book series from her teenage years and how excited she was when she read about Alice graduating from high school in the latest book "Incredibly Alice" while she had her husband read the 2009 book "Intensely Alice" to help him deal with the loss of Emily since Alice had to deal with the loss of her friend Mark Steidmeister even though they eventually mistakenly found out that Emily was alive and will eventually come home even though Alice and her friends would never get Mark Steidmeister back, "You're very sweet to our niece, Spencer."

Spencer nodded, "Even though we'll eventually have daughters for me to treat as princesses, I know that I need to treat my niece like a princess too."

Olivia nodded, "Speaking of Alice, since you read "The Agony of Alice" through "Patiently Alice" and "Starting With Alice" for me when we went through a phase of reading each other's favorite books when we were dating, have you read "Including Alice" through "Incredibly Alice" and "Alice in Blunderland" and "Lovingly Alice" yet?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "Not yet since I vowed to wait until you came back to me since I wasn't going to read those books again unless you were with me."

"Reading those books will be on my next week's honey-do list for you then since they're on my bookshelves in the library," said Olivia.

"As long as I get to pick out what books you read next," said Spencer.

"I will," said Olivia.

Brayden then entered the kitchen and passed his aunt a container of Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough flavored ice cream, "This is for you, Aunt Olivia."

"Thank you," said Olivia.

"Uncle Spencer and I dropped off flowers for my mom at the hospital too," said Brayden.

Olivia smiled, "I see that your uncle is already teaching you how to win girls' hearts since you're already his apprentice for his magic tricks."

Brayden shook his head, "I think that girls have cooties."

"Just wait another three years since you'll be changing your mind, Brayden," said Spencer.

"Why?" asked Brayden.

"I was 13 when I started noticing girls, but when I met your aunt, I knew that I would be marrying your aunt someday," said Spencer.

At that moment a freshly bathed Abigail entered the kitchen.

"How are you feeling, Abigail?" asked Spencer.

"Much better, Uncle Spencer," said Abigail.

Spencer then picked up the bouquet of irises and a box of chocolates, "These are from me in honor of you from blossoming from a little girl into a beautiful young lady, Abigail."

Abigail smiled as she thought about what her aunt told her earlier as she hugged her uncle, "Thank you, Uncle Spencer."

"What's going on?" asked Brayden.

"Just wait until you deal with maturity education in school, Brayden," said Olivia.

Xxxx

Over seven hours later, Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden had just finished eating dinner and were watching a movie when the storm sirens went off causing them to realize that Hurricane Irene was going to be approaching soon while Olivia's iPhone gave out an alert saying that Hurricane Irene is 30 minutes away from approaching causing Olivia to take Abigail and Brayden down to the laundry room in the lower level of their house while Spencer made sure that everything was unplugged, ran Lafayette while he removed the fuse of the air conditioner outside.

After taking Lafayette to Olivia, Spencer then used his key and went into his brother-in-law's and sister-in-law's house and made sure that everything was unplugged and gas and water was turned off and secured the house before he headed back to his house and made sure that windows and doors were shut tightly and locked before he joined Olivia, Abigail, Brayden, and Lafayette in the laundry room.

"Everything is unplugged and secured at our house and Edmund's and Danielle's house. I'm going to turn off the gas and water right now so we can avoid having a gas leak and the pipes bursting," said Spencer.

"Are you going to shut down the electricity too?" asked Olivia.

"I'll leave the electricity on for now, but if the power goes out I'll be turning off the main breaker," said Spencer before he went into the utility room next door and turned off the gas and water before he joined in on helping his wife, niece, and nephew build a fort that was big enough for all of them while they padded the linoleum floor with multiple blankets.

Xxxxx

An hour later, Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, Brayden, and Lafayette were sitting in their fort as they hear thunder rumble outside when Abigail looked at her aunt and uncle, "Can we please watch a movie on my iPad?" asked Abigail.

Olivia shook her head, "Even though we fully charged our cell phones, iPads, and laptops this afternoon, I rather have us conserve the batteries on our cell phones, iPads, and laptops just in case the electricity goes out."

Abigail sighed, "I understand."

"We do have a bunch of games to play instead and books to read to keep us occupied," said Spencer.

Abigail grinned as she thought about some of the games that her Aunt Olivia had for her and Brayden to play during the summers she and Brayden spent in Pasadena with their Aunt Olivia during the past four years that her aunt and uncle brought into the laundry room before the hurricane started, "Can we please play Uno Attack?" asked Abigail.

Brayden glared at his twin sister, "I want to play chess with uncle Spencer."

Olivia clapped her hand gaining her niece's and nephew's attention, "Since we have at least three hours before it's time for you two to get some sleep, we have plenty of time to play any game we want."

Spencer reached over for a piece of notebook paper and tore it up into multiple pieces of paper before writing down the games they had available to play and card games they could play and folded up each piece of paper before looking at his nephew who was wearing the FBI baseball hat he gave his nephew, "Can I please have your hat, Brayden?" asked Spencer.

"Sure, uncle Spencer," said Brayden as he removed his hat and handed it to his uncle.

"Thank you," said Spencer as he placed all the pieces of paper he wrote on into the hat, "I wrote down every game that we brought down here, so can you draw a piece of paper and announce which game we're going to play first."

"I certainly can, Spence," said Olivia as she reached into the hat and pulled out a piece of folded paper.

"What does it say?" asked Brayden.

"Drum roll please," said Olivia.

Abigail and Brayden patted their laps as they watched their aunt open up the folded slip of paper.

"We're going to be playing Skip-BO first," said Olivia.

"What's Skip-BO?" asked Abigail.

Olivia smiled, "We'll teach you two how to play Skip-BO."

A few minutes later Abigail and Brayden were watching their aunt and uncle play start a game of Skip-BO while Abigail teamed up with her aunt and Brayden teamed up with his uncle when Spencer and Olivia had them help them play the game when they were half-way through the game so they could get some experience before a second game started.

Xxxx

Two hours later Spencer was reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins" out loud to Abigail and Brayden causing Abigail and Brayden to fall asleep in their sleeping bags causing Spencer and Olivia to play a game of gin before they fell asleep despite having to wake up a few times to comfort Abigail who was still afraid of thunderstorms would wake up crying during loud cracks of thunder and making sure that no water was flooding into the lower level of the house.

Xxxx

The next day Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden woke up to find out that the electricity went out during the night causing them to eat cereal with milk, strawberries, and bananas for breakfast while Olivia read out loud from the Bible before they spent the rest of the duration of Hurricane Irene playing various board games in the lantern-lit laundry room until their battery-powered radio alerted them that the hurricane has ended.

Xxxx

A half-hour later Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden were working together on checking over the house that didn't develop any damage on the inside thanks to the windows and patio doors being boarded up and donned thick latex-free rubber gloves so they could start picking up tree branches outside the Reid and Hartford family homes while avoiding downed power lines while a few neighbors helped them remove the plywood that were placed against all the windows.

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden made phone calls to relatives and friends to let them know that they're safe and the damage wasn't too bad before they worked together on building a homemade pizza that they successfully cooked over the fireplace in the living room. After their pizza was cooked, Olivia prayed for everyone who was affected by the hurricane or are about to be affected by Hurricane Irene before they started eating dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I learned how to play Skip-BO as a kid even though I haven't played since I was 15.
> 
> Emily will be coming back from the dead in either the next chapter or the chapter after and here's a heads up that someone else like Mick Rawson will be going to Declan and Louise's house to see if Declan is there and suggests that Doyle should be brought to the people who abducted Declan because Spencer isn't cleared to work yet by a psychologist (Despite dealing with an earthquake and a hurricane when returning to the States, he's still required to go to therapy because of being labeled as suicidal) while Strauss and the Director who both refused Spencer's resignation told him to wait until September 23rd of 2011 to give his decision on whether he wants to return to the FBI or not.


	6. Anniversary & A Trip to the Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though it has now been three weeks since Spencer thought he was having a schizophrenic break when he saw Emily in Paris, I decided that Spencer isn't mentally ready to end his sabbatical to help his teammates save Declan causing me to come up with a twist to keep Spencer from returning to work before he's ready.

Spencer had just placed breakfast on the table in the breakfast room when Olivia who was wearing a pleated khaki midi-length skirt that reached the middle of her legs, a short-sleeved lavender-colored blouse, nylon stockings, her brown western boots, while her strawberry-blonde hair was left down and curled up instead of being in its usual side braid.

"How do I look?" asked Olivia.

"Why are you wearing your church clothes instead of your usual denim jeans, denim skirts, broomstick skirts, and western blouses?" asked Spencer.

"I'm teaching four classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to undergrads at one of the most famous Catholic universities here in the nation's capital, so I want to dress professionally," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded as he thought about how he always dressed professionally even though he'll wear converse sneakers, sweater vests, and cardigan sweaters instead of always wearing suit jackets and dress shoes like Hotch, "I understand your reasoning. I always wear khaki pants, dress pants, dress shirts, and a tie to work even though I'll wear my converse sneakers half the time."

"Exactly," said Olivia before smiling at the table that held plates of french toast, fried eggs, turkey bacon, orange juice, and coffee, "Breakfast looks delicious, Doc."

"Thank you," said Spencer before thinking about his wife wanting to attend 7 A.M. Mass at the Dahlgren Chapel since its' the first day of of the fall semester Let's eat up the breakfast I made for us so I can accompany you to 7 A.M. Mass at the Dahlgren chapel before I sneak into either your Euclidean geometry class or Professor Blake's forensic linguistics class before I have therapy after lunch today," said Spencer.

A minute later Olivia was saying Grace before they ate breakfast while they gave into giving a drooling Lafayette who was using his eyes on them a piece of bacon.

Xxxx

45 minutes later Spencer and Olivia entered the Dahlgren Chapel where Olivia kept her head up high as she walked with a slight limp to a pew with her husband while hearing some students say that she's the new mathematics professor before the 29-year-old couple sat down five minutes before Mass started.

Xxxx

90 minutes later, Spencer was sitting in his wife's desk as he watched his wife who was standing at the podium introduce herself before she introduced him as her husband as he ignored the dreamy looks that his wife's female students were giving him.

Xxxx

Later on that day at lunchtime, Spencer and Olivia were eating lunch together when Alex joined them with her own lunch.

"I'm glad that you decided to sit with us, Alex. You're the only professor I've befriended here so far," said Olivia.

"Eventually you'll be able to befriend other professors here too, Olivia. How was your first class, Olivia?" asked Alex.

Olivia smiled at the professor who was an F.B.I. agent like her husband and loved to have her husband guest lecture for her, "Extremely well."

Alex looked at Spencer, "Even though the fall semester has just started, have you thought about joining our staff next January, or are you going to return to the FBI or work for another agency?" asked Alex.

Spencer sighed, "Even though I've been going through all my job offers, I'm not sure about what I'm going to do yet. At least Chief Strauss doesn't need my decision until September 23rd."

Olivia looked at her husband, "Whatever you decide to do, I'll support your decision, Doc."

Xxxx

Spencer was just placing dinner on the dining room table when Olivia who had just gotten home from work found her husband in their dining room, "How was the rest of your first day teaching to undergrads at Georgetown University, Livy?" asked Spencer.

"Went wonderful, Doc," said Olivia as she took in the sight of the homemade ravioli that they recently made together with homemade tomato sauce, a salad, and a bottle of sparkling wine on the dining room table that was decorated with two lit tall candles that they were gifted on their wedding day while her husband was wearing one of his brand new tailored suits, "What's with the candlelit dinner and you wearing one of your brand new suits?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smiled at his wife, "It's our one-month wedding anniversary, so I thought that I should surprise you by having dinner ready when you came home from work since I have a meeting tonight."

Olivia looked down at her own outfit that consisted of a khaki midi-length pleated skirt, a short-sleeved lavender-colored blouse, and her brown western boots since she decided to dress professionally to be taken seriously by students at Georgetown University, "Even though you just put dinner on the table, can you keep everything warm so I can change?" asked Olivia.

"You're dressed perfectly, Livy," said Spencer.

"I know, but I want to go put on a dress I recently bought for our next dress-up date night," said Olivia as she quickly kissed her husband on the lips before she headed upstairs.

Xxxx

30 minutes later, Spencer and Olivia who had changed into a short-sleeved lavender dress that reminded him of a Stepford wife dress and had re-curled her hair were saying grace before they ate dinner to celebrate their one-month wedding anniversary.

Xxxx

Three hours later Spencer arrived at the church that Beltway Clean Cops meetings happened when Assistant Director John Bennett who had visited him in the rehabilitation center Hotch sent him to right after the Hankel case because of catching him taking the Dilaudid from Hankel's dead body and convinced him not to develop an addiction to approach him.

John who had found out about Emily's faked death when the Director told him about Spencer seeing a declared dead Emily Prentiss during his honeymoon and ended up in the hospital because of believing that he was having a schizophrenic break gave Spencer a smile he saved for his children and grandchildren, "After the rough couple of weeks you had, its good to see you coming here again, Spencer."

Spencer nodded, "My therapist and wife agreed that I could go out on my own starting today, so I decided that I was ready to attend these meetings that helped me deal with the cravings that came back when I was told that my teammate died on the operating table."

John thought about attending Spencer's wedding exactly a month ago, "Even though today is yours and Olivia's one-month wedding anniversary?" asked John.

"We already celebrated our one-month wedding anniversary by dressing up and eating dinner together at home. Olivia told me to come here while she gets to spend two hours watching a movie with my sister-in-law," said Spencer.

"I'm glad that your wife is supportive about you coming here," said John.

"My brother-in-law became an alcoholic for three months after serving in the Bosnian War, so when I told her about Hankel when we were reunited she told me to keep up with these meetings," said Spencer before he and John each grabbed a mug of coffee before they took their spots as the meeting started.

Xxxx

After the meeting was over, John who had a feeling that Spencer took the subway to the church looked at Spencer, "Did you take the subway here?" asked John.

Spencer nodded, "I did."

"Why don't I give you a ride home, Spencer," said John.

"I'd appreciate that," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer was in the front seat of John's car when John looked at Spencer, "Would your wife be upset if you come home a bit later so we can go get dessert together?" asked John.

"Let me ask her, please," said Spencer as he quickly texted his wife about his sponsor wanting to take him out for dessert.

Less than a minute later Spencer smiled at John, "My wife wants me to bring her back some blueberry pie."

John chuckled as he started his car and pulled out of the parking lot, "Just wait until you two are expecting your first baby. Then you'll be asked to bring dessert home every time."

"I had to help indulge my sister-in-law's cravings before baby Spencer was born," said Spencer as he showed John a picture of his nephew that was sent to him, "Olivia and I delivered him by ourselves right after the earthquake and he's now out of the NICU and gets to go home on Thursday."

"He's beautiful," said John.

"Even though Olivia and I have talked about trying for a baby soon, I need more time to heal over being betrayed before my wife and I are ready to try for a baby," said Spencer.

John shook his head, "I'm still angry about the deception that was pulled by two of your teammates, Spencer."

"Me too because I really thought that I was having a schizophrenic break when I saw Emily in Paris. If it wasn't for the police officer who found me and took me to the hospital where Olivia forced Emily to come clean so I wouldn't be misdiagnosed," said Spencer.

Xxx 

20 minutes later Spencer and John were sitting across from each other at a diner they frequently went to whenever John felt like taking him out to eat after a meeting.

Xxxx

An hour later John had dropped Spencer off at his house where Spencer entered his house and quickly let Lafayette outside before he entered the master bedroom to find Olivia wearing lingerie he never saw before.

Xxxx

The next morning Spencer woke up to intense pain in his abdomen as he felt vomit coming up his throat causing him to rush out of bed and throw up in the toilet. After he was done vomiting, he felt a hand on his forehead causing him to realize that his wife had woken up and put on her prosthetic leg so she could join him in the bathroom.

"You seem a bit warm, Spencer. Let me grab the thermometer and take your temperature," said Olivia.

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer.

A minute later Olivia was frowning when she saw that her husband had a temperature of 100 degrees, "You have a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit."

"My abdomen hurts too," said Spencer.

"You might have caught the stomach flu that our niece and nephew were sick with over the weekend, so let's get you back into bed while I get you some 7-Up and make you something that you should be able to keep down," said Olivia.

"Yes ma'am," said Spencer just before he ended up vomiting again in the toilet.

A few minutes later Spencer was back in bed with a bucket by him while Olivia ran Lafayette outside while she fixed him a light breakfast.

Xxxx

Later on that day at 3 P.M., Olivia frowned when she saw that her husband's temperature had gone up to 102 degrees while she already had dealt with her husband vomiting over ten times while his stomachache has intensified, "I believe that we need to go to the hospital, Doc," said Olivia.

"I hate hospitals," muttered Spencer.

"I know, but based on the symptoms you've been dealing with, you might have a case of appendicitis and will need to get your appendix out before it bursts," said Olivia.

Spencer sighed, "Let's go."

"Do you think that you can walk to my car? If you can't, I'll call for an ambulance," said Olivia.

"I don't want to take an ambulance," said Spencer.

"I'll call Edmund so he can help us," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Edmund was over helping his baby sister take Spencer outside before Edmund drove his sister and brother-in-law to the hospital while Danielle who was home from the hospital for the evening and was excited about getting to take baby Spencer home from the hospital the next day stayed with Abigail and Brayden.

Xxxx

Five hours later, Spencer who already had lab work that detected his white blood cell count being extremely high and had to go through the embarrassment of having a tube stuck up his rear end for an abdominal CT scan after having to drink a bitter lemon tasting contrast that couldn't be sweetened with sugar was sitting up in a hospital bed at Georgetown University Hospital looked at his wife, "The long wait for results and the lighting makes me hate hospitals, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "I understand, but just remember that we'll eventually have a more pleasant reason to be in a hospital."

Edmund who had stayed with his sister and brother-in-law to help his sister deal with his stubborn brother-in-law looked at his sister, "Are you talking about when you're finally going to make me an uncle?" asked Edmund.

Olivia nodded as she thought about her sister-in-law Danielle being an only child, "Yes."

"When are you two going to give me a niece or a nephew?" asked Edmund.

"As much as I want my husband to get me pregnant with your niece or nephew right now, we need to wait a bit longer since I just started teaching yesterday and Spencer might be having surgery within the next hour, Edmund," said Olivia.

"Just don't take a few years to get pregnant because I don't want to be asked if my niece or nephew is my grandchild since I was already asked if baby Spencer is my grandson yesterday," said Edmund.

Spencer and Olivia burst out laughing before Spencer groaned in pain and then had to vomit into the vomit bag that the nurse gave him.

At that moment Dr. Woodson who was a general surgeon in his early 40s entered the room and gave Spencer a sympathetic look, "You'll be able to stop vomiting as soon as you wake up from surgery in a few hours, Dr. Reid."

Spencer quickly spoke up before the attending doctor could speak, "I'm getting an appendectomy?" asked Spencer.

Dr. Woodson nodded, "You'll be taken to the operating room in 30 minutes for a laparoscopic appendectomy. Depending on how you're feeling after you're up and moving, you'll either get to go home tomorrow afternoon or on Friday morning while you two and your wife avoid trying for a baby for two weeks."

Spencer blushed a bit, "What about work? I need to give my section chief my decision about my career in the F.B.I. on September 23rd since I've been on sabbatical since the end of May."

"When it comes to your job as an F.B.I. agent, you'll be able to return to light-duty on September 26th as long as you don't participate in any raids until October 19th."

"Would I be able to fly to Las Vegas, Nevada on September 24th? My wife and I already booked flights to my hometown that morning," said Spencer.

Dr. Woodson nodded, "You can start traveling on an airplane again that day."

Olivia looked at her husband, "From now until you're taken to the operating room, we should call your parents and update them on what's happening."

Spencer nodded, "We should."

A few minutes later Spencer quickly called Bennington Sanitarium and told Dr. Norman what was going on only to be told that his mother was having an episode and he'll forward the news when his mother is lucid again before he called his father who told them that he's catching a flight at midnight in Las Vegas and he'll be in Washington D.C. at 8 A.M. causing Edmund to tell him that he'll pick him up from the airport.

After hanging up with his father, Spencer allowed a nurse to quickly prep him for surgery before he kissed Olivia and told her that he loved her before he was wheeled off to the operating room.

Xxx

A half-hour later, Olivia was waiting in the waiting room with her older brother holding her hand when she heard her husband's phone ring causing her to answer the phone without checking the caller ID.

JJ quickly spoke up, "Doyle has been arrested and Hotch and Emily are both on their way home, but Declan is missing and his nanny and the security detail that Morgan arranged for Declan have all been murdered. Even though you're not cleared to work yet, I need you to ignore your doctor's orders so you can help save Declan by joining Rossi at Declan's house."

"This is Olivia answering my husband's phone and I'm sorry to say that Spencer has been sick all day and we're," said Olivia only for JJ to interrupt.

"Spence has a history of coming into work when he's sick, so please put him on so I can tell him what's going on myself or I'll be calling my ex-boyfriend and telling him that you're abusing Spence by keeping him from talking to me about work and to arrest you," snapped JJ.

Olivia crossed herself as she made a mental note to go to confession the next day before yelling, "INSTEAD OF CALLING THE POLICE ON ME, YOU NEED TO FUCKING LISTEN TO ME AND NOT INTERRUPT ME. I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT SPENCER CAN'T TALK ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN IN AN OPERATING ROOM FOR THE PAST 35 MINUTES GETTING A LAPAROSCOPIC APPENDECTOMY."

JJ instantly regretted the words she said to Olivia, "I'm coming straight to the hospital so I can see him myself."

"Instead of trying to visit with my husband, my husband would want you and the rest of the team to focus on finding that missing boy with the help of another profiler," said Olivia before hanging up and turned off both hers and her husband's cell phones and noticed the angry looks that other family members who were waiting for news on their loved ones were giving her, "I'm sorry for yelling and swearing, but one of my husband's colleagues called about needing help finding a missing child, but she wouldn't let me tell her that my husband is in surgery for appendicitis causing me to yell and swear to gain her attention. I'll be going to confession tomorrow to confess about my sinful behavior to the Father at my husband's and my church."

"It's OK, young lady. I had stressful situations that made me swear too," said an elderly man.

"You're forgiven for your behavior, but none of our phones went off for an Amber Alert, dear," said an old lady.

Olivia kept her mouth shut as she realized that her husband's teammates were most likely going rouge.

Edmund helped his sister stand up so they could go somewhere to talk privately.

As soon as they were in a conference room, Edmund looked at his sister, "Are you OK, liver?" asked Edmund.

Olivia sighed, "After what happened in Paris, I don't blame my husband for not wanting to deal with Jennifer since she reminds me of the mean girl that bullied me in school."

"I don't blame my brother-in-law either since I dealt with members of my troop betraying me too while she tried to ruin your happiness with my brother-in-law," said Edmund.

Olivia nodded, "She threatened to call the police on me because she believes that I'm abusing him by not letting him see or talk to her when he's the one who decided not to talk to her until he's ready. I'm just being the supportive wife who has been following my husband's wishes."

Edmund shook his head, "I swear that she's dealing with a case of PTSD."

Olivia nodded, "I think so too, but it's not our job to confront her about the possibility of having PTSD."

A minute later the waiting room's receptionist named Melanie entered the room and gave Olivia a cup of water, "Are you OK? You seem agitated about a phone call you just had."

"I'm sorry for my outburst on the phone and thank you for not calling security on me," said Olivia.

"It's OK. Loved ones can get upset when their loved one is in surgery," said Melanie.

"Do you think that it's possible to ban the person I just got off the phone with from visiting my husband in this hospital so we can prevent a possible commotion that would overwhelm my husband and upset other patients and their families from happening?" asked Olivia.

Melanie nodded, "Just give me the name of the person you and your husband don't want to see during your husband's hospital stay and I'll let the front desk at the main entrance know, sweetie."

"Her name is Jennifer Jareau and she might use her F.B.I. badge to get her way to see Spencer who's here for an appendectomy and isn't a victim of a physical attack," said Olivia.

"I'll make sure that she isn't allowed to visit your husband while I'll have the receptionist call your husband's room every time someone shows up for a visit so he can approve each visitor who wants to see him, sweetie," said Melanie before smiling at Olivia, "You and your brother can stay in here until your husband is settled in his room and I'll let the surgeon know that you two are in here."

"Thank you so much, Melanie," said Olivia before she turned on her phone to send a mass text message to Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, and Garcia.

I DON'T KNOW IF JENNIFER TOLD YOU THAT SPENCER IS HAVING AN APPENDECTOMY RIGHT NOW SINCE I HAD TO DEAL WITH JENNIFER CALLING ABOUT NEEDING HIS HELP TO FIND DECLAN WHEN HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO WORK RIGHT NOW, BUT I KNOW THAT MY HUSBAND WOULD WANT YOU GUYS TO FOCUS ON FINDING DECLAN FIRST BEFORE YOU GUYS DESCEND ON HIM EITHER AT THE HOSPITAL OR AT HOME. I WON'T NEED HELP TAKING CARE OF MY HUSBAND WHEN HE'S RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL SINCE MY FATHER-IN-LAW IS CATCHING A FLIGHT OUT HERE WHILE I HAVE MY BROTHER, SISTER-IN-LAW, NIECE, AND NEPHEW TO HELP US OUT TOO. I'LL SEND A TEXT MESSAGE WHEN SPENCER GETS OUT OF SURGERY. ~ OR

Xxxx

Meanwhile, at Declan Jones's house, Rossi who had already berated JJ for trying to call Spencer for help when Strauss told them that Spencer isn't allowed to return to work yet was thanking Mick Rawson who was dating Emily for eight months until Ian Doyle escaped prison for quickly showing up at the house to help him profile the house.

Xxx

30 minutes later, Olivia was thanking Dr. Woodson for successfully performing an appendectomy on her husband before she waited for a nurse to take her to her husband's room.

Xxx

An hour later, Olivia sat down by her husband's bedside and gave her sleeping husband who was going to be sedated for the remainder of the night a kiss on the forehead before she put his wedding band back home on her husband's left ring finger. A few minutes later Olivia had called the head of the mathematics department to update her on her husband before thanking her boss for agreeing to teach her two classes the next day before she used the bathroom and sat down in the chair by her husband's bed and fell asleep while holding her husband's IV free hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Part 2 of my alternative universe version take of It Takes A Village will take place in the next chapter. Even though Spencer didn’t go rogue, he’ll be called in to talk to the Senate committee.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After everything I've been through while surviving COVID in July, I'm lucky to be alive so I can celebrate my 27th birthday today!
> 
> This chapter starts seven hours after the last chapter and I hope everyone likes my version of Spencer's talk with the Senate Committee.

Spencer woke up at 5:30 A.M. to his wife holding his IV-free hand causing him to squeeze his wife's hand, "Livy," croaked Spencer.

Olivia opened her eyes and looked at the clock before she smiled at her husband as she grabbed her husband's glasses and slipped them onto the bridge of his nose, "Aside from you being in and out of consciousness for the past nine hours, your appendectomy has been successful."

"I already knew that because of talking to a nurse in the recovery room," croaked Spencer.

Olivia grabbed for a cup of water and helped her husband take a few sips, "This should help you."

After taking five slow sips of water, Spencer gave his wife a tired smile, "Thank you, Livy."

At that moment the nurse who was still working the night shift who was in her mid-50s entered the room and smiled at Spencer, "It's finally nice to see the brown eyes that your wife told me about over six hours ago, Dr. Reid. I'm Nurse Wanda Ryan and I'll be your nurse until 8 A.M."

"Please call me Spencer," said Spencer.

Xxxx

After checking Spencer's blood pressure and temperature Nurse Wanda looked at Spencer, "Well good news is, your fever is finally down to a perfect temperature of 98.6."

"Even though I'm sore, I'm feeling much better too," said Spencer.

"Now on a scale of 1 to 10, what's your pain level?" asked Nurse Wanda.

"Four," said Spencer.

"Now let's have you take some Tylenol before you walk a lap in the hallway before Dr. Woodson stops by to check on you when he makes his rounds at 8 A.M.," said Nurse Wanda.

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer softly.

Nurse Wanda looked at Olivia, "You have a really well-mannered husband."

Olivia smiled, "When Spencer and I were attending CalTech together, there were times that he was like 'yes ma'am', 'yes sir', 'no ma'am', 'no sir' since my mother-in-law raised him to be polite to his elders."

"I'm an F.B.I. agent, so I'm used to calling some of my superiors ma'am or sir," said Spencer.

"My 25-year-old son is currently a cadet in the academy, so you must be the famous Dr. Spencer Reid my son has been telling me about," said Nurse Wanda.

"That would be me," said Spencer before looking at the bag that held his belongings, "Before I go for a walk, can I please change into my pajama pants so I won't be showing my butt to everyone despite being offered hospital provided robe?" asked Spencer.

"Yes," said Nurse Wanda.

Two minutes later Spencer had taken some Tylenol and was following the nurse's instructions on how to get out of his hospital bed by rolling onto his side before getting into a sitting position so Olivia could help him put on his pajama pants that he first came to the hospital in before he slowly stood up so he could walk around the hallway.

Xxxx

20 minutes later Spencer exited the bathroom to find Olivia and nurse Wanda waiting for him, "I urinated."

Nurse Wanda smiled, "You now have a chance of going home this morning instead of this afternoon."

"Can I get back in bed?" asked Spencer.

Nurse Wanda shook her head as she pointed to the recliner that was in the hospital room, "You're sitting in this recliner until you're discharged."

Spencer sighed as he slowly walked to the recliner and slowly sat down before his wife covered him up with a blanket, "Thanks, Livy."

"Your welcome," said Olivia.

A minute later Nurse Wanda left the room to get Spencer the promised Jell-O causing Spencer to look at his wife as he thought about how tensed Olivia looked earlier, "Are you OK?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "When you were in surgery, Jennifer called about needing you to ignore your therapist's orders and come into work a half-hour after you were taken into the operating room."

"Why?" asked Spencer.

"Doyle was arrested but his son Declan Doyle is missing," said Olivia as she started to explain what she knew.

Xxx

When Olivia was done telling her husband about the phone call, Spencer looked at his wife in shock, "Jennifer really thought of calling the police on you?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "She thought I was abusing you when I told her that you were indisposed."

"Except you were being a good wife by taking me to the hospital when you realized that the stomach flu that you thought I caught from Abigail and Brayden was more serious," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "I know," said Olivia before looking into her husband's eyes, "I hope that you're not upset about me for asking that all visitors be approved by us before they visit you while Jennifer is banned from visiting you here because I wanted your hospital stay to be as relaxing as possible."

"I'm not mad at you because I want my teammates to focus on rescuing Declan before they visit me," said Spencer before realizing that Morgan and Garcia had spent their free time searching for Declan and Doyle, "I can't believe that Morgan and Garcia never told me what they were doing or asked me for help."

"Maybe they didn't ask you for help before and after you left for your sabbatical since they knew that you were going to be too busy to help when they found out about me while they were ordered not to ask for your help when we found out that Emily is alive," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded in understanding before he thought about the reason why he's in the hospital, "If I didn't end up sick with appendicitis, I would have ignored my therapist's orders and be helping my teammates save Declan."

"I know, Doc," said Olivia before giving her husband a stern look, "but as soon as you get discharged, we're going to our church so I can go to confession before we go straight home where you'll be spending the next two weeks taking it easy."

Spencer sighed, "Yes, ma'am."

Xxx

Later on that morning at 8 A.M., Spencer was still sitting in the recliner as he finished eating his fifth cup of jello when Dr. Woodson came into his room, "Dr. Woodson."

"I see that you're looking much better," said Dr. Woodson.

Spencer nodded, "Even though I'm sore from surgery; I'm grateful to no longer have a fever, have shooting pains in my abdomen, or having to vomit."

"That's good," said Dr. Woodson before he had Spencer stand up and lift up his hospital gown that was over his pajama pants before he gently removed the pieces of tape and squares of gauze that were over the one-inch incision on the bottom of his belly button and the three tiny incisions looked at the handiwork he did, "No signs of infection, you're no longer bleeding, and the results from each blood draw that was done overnight are back in a normal range."

"When can I go home? Our nephew who was born two weeks ago at 34-weeks is finally being discharged from the hospital today," said Spencer.

"Since you're doing great, already urinated, and walked around in the hallway I don't think that there would be a problem with letting you leave within the next hour so you can be home in time for lunch," said Dr. Woodson as he started to explain the diet that Spencer should follow for a few days, telling him to take some stool softener and laxative powder to mix in his water or juice to help him regain his bowel movements, wait with showering until 24 to 48 hours after surgery, and the weight limit he can carry for the next two weeks.

At that moment Olivia's phone vibrated causing her to see a text message from her brother.

I JUST PICKED UP SPENCER'S FATHER. DO YOU WANT ME TO BRING HIM TO THE HOSPITAL WHEN DANIELLE AND I COME TO THE HOSPITAL TO PICK UP BABY SPENCER IN AN HOUR? ~ EH

Olivia looked at her husband, "Your father has arrived. I'm going to let Edmund know that your father should just stay at our house since you'll be discharged in an hour."

"OK," said Spencer.

A minute later Olivia was texting her brother.

SPENCER IS BEING DISCHARGED, SO WE'LL BE HOME IN AN HOUR. SO WILLIAM SHOULD JUST HANG OUT AT SPENCE'S AND MY HOUSE. ~ OR

Xxxx

An hour later Olivia had just tied her husband's Converse sneakers just as an escort brought a wheelchair into the room causing her to smile at her husband who now had the CalTech t-shirt he was wearing when he came to the hospital back on, "Your ride is here, Doc," said Olivia.

Spencer glared at the wheelchair, "Do I have to?" asked Spencer.

"Hospital rules, Doc," said Olivia.

Spencer sighed as he slowly stood up and walked over to the wheelchair and gingerly sat down and grabbed his wife's hand before he was pushed out of the room.

Xxxx

Ten minutes later Spencer was slowly getting into the front seat of Olivia's car as he allowed Olivia who was already in the driver's seat to buckle him in so he wouldn't have to twist himself before she drove them to Our Lady of Victory Parish so she could go to confession for her choice of language the evening before.

Xxxx

Over an hour later, Spencer was allowing his father to gently hug him before he was directed to the recliner in the living room so he could take a nap while Olivia took a shower.

Xxxx

Later on that evening, Spencer was sitting in his recliner with a pillow protecting his incisions as he held his namesake while Abigail and Brayden who are both turning 11 in a week stood on either side of him as they showed him the get well soon cards they made for him, "Thank you so much for the cards," said Spencer.

"Your welcome, uncle Spencer," said Abigail and Brayden in unison.

Abigail looked at her uncle, "Was it scary being cut open?" asked Abigail.

Spencer shook his head, "Not at all because I was put to sleep with general anesthesia for surgery so I wouldn't have to witness myself being cut open."

"That's good, uncle Spencer," said Brayden.

Spencer looked at his oldest niece and nephew, "Are you two excited about getting to help your parents take care of your new little brother?" asked Spencer.

"I don't like helping my mom and dad deal with poopy diapers while he once peed on me today," said Brayden.

Spencer looked at his oldest nephew, "You urinated on me few times when you were a baby."

"I did?" asked Brayden.

Spencer nodded, "Even though I love you, baby Spencer, and my godsons; I rather hope that your aunt and I end up having a daughter when we finally give you and your siblings a cousin."

"I'm hoping that you and Aunt Olivia have a baby girl too, uncle Spencer," said Abigail just as Olivia came into the living room.

"Dinner is done," said Olivia before looking at her husband, "Now please hand me our nephew so you can start making your way to the table, Doc."

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer he allowed his wife to gently collect their nephew while his father and Edmund helped him walk to the dining room.

Xxxx

Two days later Spencer who was propped up underneath three pillows woke up to a phone call causing him to groggily answer his phone, "Hello?" asked Spencer.

"How are you feeling, Reid?" asked Hotch.

"Much better than I felt on Wednesday while I'm in less pain than I was from surgery on Thursday," said Spencer.

"That's good," said Hotch before taking a breath, "I know that you heard that Doyle has been arrested and Prentiss and I are both home, but because of the rest of the team and I going rouge to save Declan we've been suspended because of two agents who were guarding Declan are dead while four international terrorists were killed in a shootout that saved Declan's life. We'll be required to face a Senate committee in two weeks to determine our future as a team since we didn't go through the proper channels. You're the only one who hasn't been suspended because of an emergency appendectomy keeping from ending your sabbatical to help save Declan's life."

"If I end up returning to the B.A.U. when I end my sabbatical, I might be working with a new team?" asked Spencer.

"Yes. Even though you didn't go rogue; the Senate committee wants to talk to you too because of how long you've worked with Prentiss while seeing her during your honeymoon caused the rest of the team to be read in," said Hotch.

"I'll make sure that my doctor clears me for the interrogation by the Senate Committee," said Spencer.

"Even though it's understandable that you're not ready to face JJ yet since she tried to break you and Olivia up and you're still dealing with being betrayed by JJ and me, do you think that you can let Prentiss come over? She's currently homeless while she wants to see how you're doing since she and I didn't learn that you were in the hospital for appendicitis until we turned on our phones after our flights," said Hotch.

"I'm not ready to face Prentiss yet either," said Spencer before seeing that Lafayette who was sleeping by his feet was now awake and letting out some groans, "Lafayette just woke up and I need to run him outside while I do a bit of walking for my post-operation instructions," said Spencer before hanging up.

A few seconds later Spencer was slowly getting out of bed and quickly used the bathroom only to find Olivia putting on a denim skirt and a short-sleeved blouse before she slipped on her prosthetic leg and her western boots, "You could have slept longer, Livy."

"I know, but I felt like taking Lafayette on a walk around the block while he does his business instead of just letting him out in the backyard," said Olivia before smiling at her husband, "Since you need to go on a walk to help prevent blood clots, you're coming with and we'll go out for breakfast when we're done walking Lafayette."

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer had a pair of khaki pants that went below his still-healing scars, a polo shirt, and Converse sneakers on before he and Olivia took Lafayette on a walk through their neighborhood.

Xxxxx

13 days later, a recovered Spencer was sitting on the bench waiting for his turn to talk to the Senate Committee when Chief Strauss exited the bathroom and sat down next to him, and held out a tin of mints to him.

Spencer shook his head, "No thank you."

A few seconds later Spencer and Chief Strauss saw Emily enter the lobby and started talking to a guard.

Chief Strauss to look at Spencer who had some anger showing in his usually warm brown/hazel eyes as she thought about hating Emily's faked death had hurt the young man next to her, "At least you've got her back," said Strauss.

Spencer turned his head and looked at his former section chief as he smelled a bit of alcohol in the older woman's minty breath causing him to think back to witnessing Chief Strauss pouring something from a flask into her drinks before every adult over 21 was allowed to drink alcoholic beverages during his and Olivia's wedding reception, "Did we?" asked Spencer.

Spencer's phone vibrated causing him to see a text message from Olivia.

I HOPE THAT YOU'RE FEELING WELL. HOPEFULLY, YOU'RE ABLE TO COME HOME SOON SINCE I CHANGED OUR FLIGHT TO 10 P.M. TONIGHT. I LOVE YOU. ~ OR

Spencer smiled a bit.

I'M FEELING GOOD. I'LL BE CALLED IN NEXT. I LOVE YOU TOO. ~ SR

"Olivia?" asked Chief Strauss.

Spencer nodded, "She was just checking in on me while letting me know that she changed our flights from 7 A.M. tomorrow morning to 10 P.M. tonight."

"Where are you and Olivia going?" asked Chief Strauss.

"Even though Olivia and I were supposed to fly to Las Vegas tomorrow morning, my mom's doctor wants to put my mom on some new medication. So we're catching an earlier flight so we can meet with my mom's doctor first thing tomorrow morning instead," said Spencer.

"Hopefully your visit with your family in Las Vegas goes well tomorrow," said Chief Strauss.

"I hope so too because my mom has been doing much better ever since I told her that Olivia came back into my life and kept my promise of not letting Olivia leave me again," said Spencer.

Xxxx

20 minutes later, Senator Cramer looked at Spencer, "Aside from all of us wanting to congratulate you on your nuptials, we're hoping that you've been doing well ever since you ran into Agent Prentiss during your honeymoon."

"As someone who is a son of a paranoid schizophrenic, I'm doing as well as I can since it took me a bit to realize that Agent Prentiss wasn't a hallucination while I'm having a hard time trusting everyone right now too," said Spencer.

Agent Senator nodded, "You should have been read in because the F.B.I. almost lost an asset like you to the deception that Agents Hotchner and Jareau pulled."

"I agree," said Spencer.

"When you were told that Agent Prentiss was dead, did you help Agent Morgan and Technical Analyst Garcia search for Doyle before your wedding?" asked Senator Cramer.

Spencer shook his head, "I did not. I was too busy working, writing, reading, babysitting, focusing on my health, attending Pre-Cana counseling sessions, and spending time with family."

"Even though you're the only member of your team who was unable to go rogue two weeks ago, I see that you're the only one who didn't request to be reinstated," said Senator Cramer before smiling a bit, "Is your crippled wife the reason why you're not requesting to be reinstated?" asked Senator Cramer.

Spencer quickly stood up and glared at Senator Cramer, "Please don't call my wife a cripple," snapped Spencer before he felt a bit of pain from the sudden movement causing him to clutch his abdomen.

"Calm down, Agent," ordered Senator Cramer.

"This is calm and it's doctor," said Spencer firmly.

Xxx

A few hours later Spencer was standing in the conference room at the B.A.U. for the first time since working with Andi Swann when Chief Strauss looked at everyone, "The committee made it clear they will not support a rogue team. Agent Prentiss convinced them you were not that. They will be watching you closely. So I suggest you play by their rules." said Strauss.

A nervous Garcia looked at Strauss, "So we're OK?" asked Garcia nervously.

"Suspension is lifted for everyone," said Strauss.

JJ sighed in relief as she looked at Strauss, "Thank you, ma'am."

Strauss looked at Emily, "There may be more paperwork, considering your... situation, but the team is lucky to have you if you're interested."

"May I think about it?" asked Emily.

"Of course," said Strauss.

A few seconds later Emily looked at Strauss, "I'm in," said Emily before she smiled causing everyone else but Spencer to smile.

Strauss looked at Hotch, "I have a stack of cases on my desk. I'm happy to pass them along."

Hotch looked at Strauss, "I'll pick them up in the morning."

A second later, Morgan looked at Emily, "Emily, what did you say in there?" asked Morgan

Emily told them what she said and after she was finished Chief Strauss looked at Spencer, "Can I please speak to you in my office?" asked Chief Strauss.

Spencer nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"What's going on?" asked Garcia.

"After what happened during my honeymoon, I'm still on sabbatical and Strauss said that she didn't need my decision on whether I'm coming back to the B.A.U. or not until today," said Spencer before leaving the conference room.

A few minutes later Spencer was sitting across from Chief Strauss in Chief Strauss's office.

"The Director and I are going to refuse your resignation from both the Behavioral Analysis Unit and the F.B.I.," said Chief Strauss.

"What if I wanted to transfer to a local White Collar Crimes task-force so I could work a nine to five job that didn't require traveling?" asked Spencer.

"I know that this past month has been difficult for you since you found out that Agent Prentiss is alive in one of the worst possible ways, but all the Director and I want you to is to continue working for the B.A.U. for at least four months before I agree to sign your transfer papers," said Chief Strauss before sliding some papers towards Spencer, "Some changes have been made on your contract to help make the next four months bearable for you while you will still get to keep what you're offered if you stay as an apology from the Bureau."

Spencer quickly read the updated contract that stated that he'll be getting his own office so he has a quiet place to work in because of his stress-related migraines while he'll also get his distance he needs from JJ, the Bureau will pay for a nurse to come over to his house to help Olivia in the mornings and evenings when he's on a case, while as damage control for the way he found out about Emily being alive they'll pay what isn't covered by insurance for his mother's medical care for the next ten years so he, his father, and uncle Gordon won't have to split the difference anymore while knowing that he and Olivia now have over eight-million dollars in their joint savings account thanks to combining their savings account after the wedding, "Aside from loving the idea of getting my own office since I won't have to be in the same room as Jennifer during paperwork days; paying for both a nurse to help Olivia out and my mother's care is way too much. Olivia has everything she needs to be fully independent while what isn't covered by both my dad's and my health insurance is split in three ways by my father, uncle Gordon, and me."

"I'm aware of how much money you and Olivia have in the bank, but it was anonymously decided that the Bureau would pay for your mother's care instead of giving you a raise while I thought that a nurse would be helpful when you and Olivia are expecting your first child," said Chief Strauss before becoming serious, "Do you approve what's being offered to you?" asked Chief Strauss.

"Yes," said Spencer as he quickly signed his updated contract.

"Since it's been two weeks since your appendectomy, has your primary physician clear you to return to work on Monday yet?" asked Chief Strauss.

Spencer nodded, "I'm allowed to travel and visit crime scenes, but I was told not to participate in any raids until October 19th."

"Then you're cleared to return to work on Monday," said Chief Strauss before looking into Spencer's eyes, "Now enjoy your last free weekend with your wife and parents before you step foot in this building again on Monday while I'll have Anderson move your belongings from your desk to your new office."

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer.

Xxxx

Ten minutes later, Spencer was entering the conference room where his teammates were still standing and talking, "I'll be back in the B.A.U. on Monday since Chief Strauss and the Director are refusing to let me leave this unit yet, but in four months I'll get to decide if I still want to transfer to White Collar Crimes like I originally planned on doing," said Spencer before looking at Hotch, "I'll fax you the papers that mention that I'm cleared to fly when I get home."

"What did your doctor say about fieldwork?" asked Hotch.

"I can't put on my Kevlar vest and participate in any take-downs until October 19th," said Spencer before looking at the clock, "Since Olivia told me that dinner won't be done for another two hours, I want to spend the next hour helping Anderson move some of my belongings in the office that Chief Strauss and the Director set up as my new workspace for me."

"Why are you going to work in an office and not in the bullpen with Emily and me?" asked JJ.

“After everything you did to me the past seven months, it was decided that I can have my space from you when we’re not on cases," said Spencer before leaving the room so he could help Anderson box up his books and files before they headed to an office that was four doors down from Morgan's office.

Dxxx

Six hours later Spencer and Olivia were sitting next to each other as the earlier flight that Olivia booked for them took off.


	8. Back to Work & Anger Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When it comes to the topic of who got primary custody of Henry in this chapter, I hope that I did justice because I was thinking about how the custody arrangement would be arranged in real life because of JJ being a profiler who's on-call 24/7 and travels all over the country while Will is a police officer who rarely travels for work unless he's sent out to identify a body of a colleague or attend a conference.
> 
> This chapter starts the morning after the last chapter and please don't forget that Spencer never got addicted to Dilaudid in this universe while I also made a few changes because of being upset about how Spencer's anger in Proof was handled.

Spencer woke up in his father's guest bedroom to his phone vibrating causing him to see a text message from JJ.

WANT TO HAVE BRUNCH THIS MORNING OR TOMORROW MORNING AFTER YOUR DONE ATTENDING MASS? I HAVE HENRY UNTIL TOMORROW EVENING AND HE WANTS TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU AND DOESN'T WANT OLIVIA TO JOIN US. ~ JJ

Spencer let out a loud groan as he set his phone back on the nightstand.

Olivia opened her eyes and looked at her husband, "Did you just get a case, Doc?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "No case."

"Then what caused you to groan?" asked Olivia.

Spencer thought back to Will telling him that a family court judge decided that Will won primary custody of Henry while JJ gets Henry every other weekend and pays child support due to JJ refusing to transfer to a unit that allows her to go home to Henry every night and not travel for work or leave the F.B.I. altogether after Sandy Jareau told the judge that she's not going to uproot her life in Pennsylvania and move down to Washington D.C. so she can take care of her grandson while JJ has to travel to another state for a case for a few days due to being highly disappointed in her daughter for breaking up with Will so she could try and break up his engagement to Olivia so she could get together with him while he was on sabbatical, "Jennifer just texted me that she has Henry until tomorrow evening and is hoping that she, Henry, and I can go out for brunch either today or tomorrow."

"I wasn't invited?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "Even though Henry loves you, Jennifer claimed that Henry just wants to see me."

"I believe that she's twisting Henry's words in hope of luring you into spending all your free time with her so I would be able to annul our marriage after claiming that you're having an affair," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded in agreement, "That's why I decided that I'll visit my godson when Will has him while I firmly told JJ that I wasn't going to spend one on one time with her outside of work if you or no one else from the team is joining us too when she told me that she broke up with Will and asked me out to brunch when she knew that I was engaged to you."

"Are you going to reply to her text?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook her head, "Aside from not being ready to talk to her about her faking Emily's death, I don't want her to know that we're in Las Vegas visiting my parents on my last free weekend before I return to the B.A.U. on Monday."

Olivia nodded, "I support your decision," said Olivia before looking at the time on her phone and noticed that it was 5 A.M. causing her to reach for her prosthetic leg and put it on, "I don't know about you, but I feel like getting up so we can go on a walk through your father's neighborhood before we either eat breakfast here or go out for breakfast before visiting your mother."

Spencer nodded, "Let's go for a walk."

A minute later Spencer and Olivia were taking turns in the bathroom before they got dressed and wrote a note for William telling him that they went for a walk and they'll be back in time for breakfast before they slipped out of the house and walked for a mile before turning back.

Dddd

Later on that morning at 9 A.M., Spencer, Olivia, and William were watching Diana read a book before Dr. Norman walked over to them.

"Hello, Dr. Norman," said Spencer.

Dr. Norman looked at Spencer as he shook the son of one of his favorite patients' hands, "Aside from being glad that I finally get to congratulate you on your nuptials in person since your mother has been telling everyone about how beautiful your wedding was, I heard that you had a rough couple of weeks when it came to finding out that a teammate's death was faked, dealing with an earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and ending up in the hospital with appendicitis."

Spencer nodded, "Not the best way to start off married life."

"The first year of marriage is always considered the hardest, but what matters is that you and Olivia are surviving everything that has been thrown your way so far," said Dr. Norman.

"Hopefully everything settles down since I return to the B.A.U. on Monday since the F.B.I. refused to accept my resignation for another four months so I could work for academia or another government agency," said Spencer before looking towards where his mother was sitting without realizing that he's there, "How is she?" asked Spencer.

"When I checked on her an hour ago, she was still lucid. So why don't you go visit with her for two hours before we meet up about changing your mother's medication," said Dr. Norman.

"OK," said Spencer.

A minute later Spencer, Olivia, and William were each hugging an excited Diana before Diana looked at her son, "How are you feeling, sweetheart?" asked Diana.

"I'm recovered enough from my appendectomy to return to light duty on Monday," said Spencer.

"Meaning that you'll be working with Jennifer again after how much she hurt you this year, sweetheart?" asked Diana.

Spencer nodded, "The F.B.I. is refusing my resignation for another four months while I was given my own office to work in, the F.B.I. will pay for a nurse to help Olivia out when we finally get pregnant, while the F.B.I. will be paying for your medical care that isn't covered by health insurance for the next ten years in hopes of making me return to the B.A.U. more bearable for me."

"You couldn't say no to the government?" asked Diana.

"The F.B.I. is refusing to let me leave until the end of January, mom," said Spencer before deciding to change the topic, "Let's not talk about work right now."

Diana nodded before looking at her daughter-in-law, "Even though you've been telling me about your work at Georgetown University in your letters, please tell me about how much you're loving your job and what you're doing when you're not working at Georgetown University.

Olivia nodded as she started to tell her mother-in-law about the professors she's getting along with.

Xxxx

Two mornings later, Spencer who was reading a file exited the elevator only to find JJ and Emily.

JJ looked at Spencer, "Hey, where have you been? I wanted to do brunch this weekend," said JJ.

"Olivia and I spent the weekend in Las Vegas visiting my parents, Aunt Ethel, and Uncle Gordon since it was my last free weekend to visit my family without any cases interrupting my time with Olivia and my parents. Have you seen Garcia?" asked Spencer as he briskly walked away.

"Uh, she's with Rossi," said JJ before sighing as she looked at Emily with a sad look in her eyes, "He hates me."

Emily scoffed as she thought about how much of a right that Spencer had to be angry since he thought that he was having a schizophrenic break when he saw her during his honeymoon while knowing that Spencer ended up becoming more confident after Olivia came back into his life, "Mm, he was just busy. Let it go."

Xxxx

The next day, Spencer was walking to the conference room that he and the rest of his teammates were given to work in so he could grab some files so he could head to the hotel so he could keep his Skype session with his therapist when JJ quickly approached him.

"Spence. Look, we gotta talk about this," pleaded JJ.

Spencer continued to sort through the files as he spoke quietly, "I don't want to talk about it."

JJ decided to ignore Spencer's request, "I get it, OK? You're disappointed with the way we handled Emily."

"Listen, I have a lot going on, all right?" asked Spencer before he tried to walk away with a file.

JJ took a breath as she thought about wanting Spencer to hear her out, "You know what I think it is?" asked JJ.

Spencer turned around and snapped, "What?" asked Spencer.

"You're mad that Hotch and I controlled our micro-expressions at the hospital and you weren't able to detect our deception," said JJ.

Spencer started tears leaking in the corner of his eyes as he thought about JJ belittling his profiling skills when he has been a profiler for over seven years, "You think it's about my profiling skills? Jennifer, listen, the only reason you were able to manage my perceptions is that I trusted you while you also tried to break my wife and me up before I married the love of my life and not had the decency to tell me the truth."

"I couldn't," said JJ sadly.

"You couldn't? Or you wouldn't?" asked Spencer.

"No, I couldn't," said JJ firmly.

"When I ran into Emily during my honeymoon, I thought that I finally became a paranoid schizophrenic like my mom and I was," before JJ interrupted.

JJ shook her head, "You didn't have a schizophrenic break, Spence."

"I know since my wife forced both Hotch and Emily to clean up the mess that you, Hotch, and Emily caused so I wouldn't be institutionalized for the rest of my life like my mom," said Spencer before he thought about what he could say to finally get JJ to leave him alone as he yelled, "but I was also planning on committing suicide so I wouldn't have to lose nearly everything just like my mom did," said Spencer before storming off.

JJ's eyes went wide as she realized that the deception almost cost Spencer's life as tears started to leak through her eyes, "Spence."

Spencer turned around and threw his arms out as he glared at JJ who had tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," said JJ.

"It's too late, all right," snapped Spencer before storming away while ignoring the fact that Morgan and Rossi now knew about what he almost did in Paris.

Emily who had a flashback to Olivia yelling at her about the possibility of Spencer going to end his life looked at Spencer, "Reid."

Spencer just ignored her as he went to find an officer to take him back to the hotel. 

A few seconds later JJ looked at Hotch and Emily, "Did you two know that Spence was going to commit suicide just like my sister did?" asked JJ.

Hotch and Emily both nodded.

JJ instantly burst into tears, "Why didn't you two tell me?" asked JJ.

"The fewer people who knew the truth the better since we both didn't take Reid's mental health into consideration when we faked Prentiss's death and I wanted to protect Reid's personal and professional future by coming clean to the doctor that was in charge of his care in Paris," said Hotch.

Rossi noticed the officers who were watching them, "You should have waited until you were in a private place to confront Reid because you might have cost him his job by confronting him in a public place."

Hotch nodded in agreement, "You should have waited."

JJ released some tears, "I thought that I could get him to listen to me here since he's refusing to talk to me in the SUV or at the hotel."

Morgan looked at JJ, "Reid is mad at both Garcia and me for not including him on the search for Doyle even though he was busy preparing for his wedding, so it's going to take a long time for him to talk to any of us personally because you tried to break him and Olivia up before the wedding while you just belittled him on his profiling skills too."

Rossi's phone vibrated to see a text message from Spencer.

I'M HEADING TO THE HOTEL FOR A FEW HOURS SINCE I HAVE A SKYPE APPOINTMENT WITH MY THERAPIST. I DON'T WANT ANYONE BOTHERING ME UNTIL I'M READY TO RETURN TO THE STATION. ~ SR

Rossi quickly texted Spencer back.

TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED, KIDDO. I ALREADY TOLD JJ THAT SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE CONFRONTED YOU IN A POLICE STATION. ~ DR

"Was it Reid?" asked Hotch.

Rossi nodded as he pocketed his phone, "He has a Skype appointment with his therapist, so he's heading to the hotel for his Skype appointment. I told him to take all the time he needs."

"Thank you," said Hotch before looking at Morgan, "I know that you want to talk to Reid, but let him attend his Skype therapy session since he's required to have weekly therapy sessions whether he's on a case or not."

"Plus he'll most likely want to Skype with Olivia after his session since he deserves a few hours to cool down without us barging on him," said Rossi.

Hotch gave each team member a look, "When Reid returns, no one brings up what Reid mentioned," said Hotch before giving JJ a stern look, "And do not talk to Reid about anything but the case until we're back in Quantico."

"I understand," said JJ sadly.

"If complaints are made about what Reid said by this police department, you can either be demoted back to a media liaison or be fired and never be allowed to work for the government again," said Hotch before he stalked off to talk to the officers who overheard so he could fix the damage that could happen because of JJ not choosing to wait until they were in a private place to confront Spencer.

Xxxx

Over an hour and a half later at the hotel, Spencer smiled a bit when he saw Olivia's face on his laptop, "Hello, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia quickly recognized the hotel room that Spencer was sharing with Rossi, "Shouldn't you be at the police department right now?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, but I just got done with a Skype therapy appointment since I had to pull myself from the case for a bit to keep my appointment with my therapist," said Spencer.

"How did that go?" asked Olivia.

"We talked about how angry I'm feeling and Riley Jenkins," said Spencer.

"Due to your father protecting your mother by burning her clothes that were full of blood after your mom watched Lou Jenkins kill Gary Michaels?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Yes," said Spencer before sighing, "When I first started reconnecting with my father, it took six months for me to finally start forgiving him after I contracted a lung infection that almost killed me."

Olivia thought back to seeing Spencer coming back to CalTech after visiting his mom in Las Vegas with some cuts, bruises, and even a broken arm once causing her to tell Spencer that he should really think about getting his mother more help, "I understand that you couldn't forgive him for six months since he left you in a dangerous situation," said Olivia before seeing the tense look in her husband's eyes, "What happened today?" asked Olivia.

"After giving the profile, Jennifer decided to confront me about faking Emily's death in a crowded police department causing me to tell her that I was thinking about committing suicide after I saw Emily as my way to get her to leave me alone so I could head here for my therapy session," said Spencer as he recounted everything that he and JJ said.

After Spencer was done recounting the words, Olivia nodded, "I agree that Jennifer should have waited until you two were in a place where you two could talk privately. Even though you have been forced to stay in the B.A.U. for another four months, you can lose your job if any of the officers who witnessed yours and Jennifer's blowout end up reporting you for claiming that you were suicidal."

"At this rate, I don't care if I lose my job with the F.B.I. since I didn't want to return in the first place and we have plenty of money that would allow me to be a house husband for a long time while I'm almost done with my book," said Spencer before looking into his wife's eyes, "Do you believe that I have a right to be angry at Jennifer, Emily, and Hotch and no one should force me into forgiving them quickly?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "You have a right to be angry for as long as you like since you could have been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia if Emily and Aaron didn't follow my orders on cleaning up the mess they caused when we accidentally ran into Emily when we were told that she died," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "Remember how angry I was when I was struggling to relearn how to walk after I lost my left leg to a Mojave rattlesnake bite?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I allowed you to be angry for as long as you decided to be angry at the world since your life has been changed completely," said Spencer before he laid his eyes on the case file that was by his side causing him to rethink about the case.

Olivia noticed a look on her husband's face, "I can see the wheels turning in your brain, Doc."

"I think that my teammates and I got the profile wrong since we were thinking that the unsub might have a physical disability who's a typical homeless person who has used chemicals to burn his victims," said Spencer.

"You believe that the unsub has a disability that affects his mental state instead?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

"My prosthetic leg sometimes scares both children and adults, so I always keep my prosthetic leg hidden with knee-high socks, jeans, long skirts, and western boots so everyone sees me as a math genius and not as an amputee," said Olivia.

"He's good with chemicals and owns a car while he should be smart enough to use his disability to his own advantage so he can come across as harmless," said Spencer.

"Go tell your teammates that so you can come home to me, but please don't participate in arresting the unsub yet since it's been three weeks since your appendectomy," said Olivia.

"I promise. I love you and thanks for listening to me," said Spencer.

"I love you too and your welcome," said Olivia before signing off.

A few minutes later Spencer was calling a cab to take him back to the police station.

Xxxx

The next night Spencer was sitting away from the rest of his team reading a book when Emily sat down across from him.

"So, the surgeon said he believes he can restore feeling to Tammy's hands," said Emily.

Spencer nodded, "Good. We got there in time."

"I heard Mr. Bradstone wants to watch the tape," said Emily.

"People have an innate curiosity to see things in order to confirm them," said Spencer quietly.

Emily smiled, "Oh, that explains why I'm going to Rossi's tomorrow night. I want to see if he really can cook. You coming?" asked Emily.

Spencer sighed as he thought about how busy the next day was going to be for him since he and Olivia were going to attend Mass before they spend time with Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer, "I don't know. I'm not so sure I can make it."

Emily sighed as she forced Spencer to put his book down and look at her, "Look, Reid, I know you're mad at us because we didn't tell you what really happened while you thought that you were having a schizophrenic break when you saw me when you were on your honeymoon. But I promise you, we had no choice. You mourned the loss of a friend. I mourned the loss of six," said Emily before sighing as she gave Spencer a pleading look, "This whole thing gave me an ulcer. Please don't give me another one."

After a moment of silence, Emily looked at Spencer again, "Are you gonna go to Rossi's tomorrow?" asked Emily.

Spencer bit his tongue as he thought about the anger he's been feeling due to Emily just trying to blackmail him emotionally, "We'll see."

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer stepped into his and Olivia's house to find Olivia asleep on the couch while her crutches were laying on the floor causing him to realize that his wife wasn't wearing her prosthetic leg causing him to gently shake his wife awake, "Please wake up, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia woke up and smiled at her husband, "Welcome home."

Spencer kissed his wife, "I missed you."

"Me too," said Olivia before noticing the hint of anger in her husband's eyes, "What's wrong?" asked Olivia.

"Even though I found out that none of the officers reported me for admitting that I thought about committing suicide, Emily emotionally blackmailed me during the flight home," said Spencer as he quickly told his wife about what Emily said to him during the flight home and the cooking lesson that Rossi told him about when they were heading to the motel that the last victim was abducted from.

When Spencer was finished, Olivia looked at her husband, "Emily didn't lose six friends since she was able to come home as soon as Doyle was arrested."

"That's what I was thinking, but I kept my mouth shut," said Spencer.

Olivia took a breath, "Even though I believe that you and the team should attend counseling together instead of having a cooking lesson, it's going to be your choice if you choose to go to the cooking lesson or not."

"I know," said Spencer.

"If you do decide to go and you choose to consume onions, you will need to take a shower, brush your teeth, and change your clothes before you're allowed to touch me if David forces everyone to use the original recipe even though he allowed us not to use onions when I told him that I'm allergic to food that's in the allium family."

"Since your allergic to onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, scallions, and chives and Emily just emotionally blackmailed me into coming, I'm not going to go since I rather spend all day tomorrow with you, Edmund, Danielle, and our niece and nephews," said Spencer.

Olivia smiled a bit, "Well it might be a good idea that you're not going to go."

"Why?" asked Spencer.

"Since you've been given the all-clear to have sex again, I went to the doctor while you were in Durant to make sure that I'm healthy enough to have a baby. My doctor did an ovulation prediction test, and I was told that based on my cycle I should be ovulating from tomorrow through your 30th birthday on the 9th," said Olivia.

"Even though we've been married for eight weeks, are you ready?" asked Spencer.

"If I want to make sure that I'm healed from giving birth and return to work by the start of the fall semester next year; tomorrow through October 9th will be the best time for you to try and get me pregnant since I won't be working during summer break next year," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "If you're not ready to be a father by June or July of next year, we'll have to wait almost another year."

"Why?" asked Spencer.

"I need to be fair to all my students who are paying thousands of dollars to work under me during either the fall or spring semester and not disappoint them by being forced to take a sabbatical for one semester because of my due date, so we need to try for a baby during the next week or we wait until September of next year to try for a baby so I could give birth and recover during the summer of 2013 and be recovered by Labor Day," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I understand. My mom was forced to take the fall of 1981 semester off to give birth to me and recover."

"Your mother was the one to give me the advice on planning the conception date so I can give birth between graduation in May and the 4th of July so I don't have to take a full semester off," said Olivia.

Spencer smiled at his wife, "We might as well start trying tomorrow evening."

"Now let's go get some sleep so we can be well-rested for Mass tomorrow morning," said Olivia.

A few seconds later Olivia was letting Lafayette outside one last time while Spencer took a quick shower before they went to bed with Lafayette sleeping between them.

Xxxx

The next day after Mass, Spencer looked at Rossi who decided to join in on attending Mass with them, "Can we talk in private before my wife and I spend time with our niece and nephews?" asked Spencer.

"Is it about what I overheard Emily say to you during the flight home?" asked Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

A few minutes later Spencer and Rossi were sitting in Rossi's car when Spencer looked at Rossi, "I know that I'm going to upset you and the rest of the team, but I'm not going to go to your cooking lesson because I'm not happy with Emily emotionally blackmailing me into coming, I'm allowed to be angry for as long as I want, I know that you're going to let the team use allium ingredients and I can't put Olivia at risk even if I can shower, brush my teeth, and change my clothes before I go near Olivia, and Olivia already told me that she made plans for me at the time the cooking lesson is supposed to happen before I got home last night since last night was our eight-week wedding anniversary."

"After what Emily said last night, I already had an inkling that you aren't going to be coming last night," said Rossi.

"Are you upset that I'm not going to come?" asked Spencer.

Rossi shook his head, "After how much Emily's 'death' affected you, you have a right to be angry for as long as you want while you deserve to spend every free moment you have with Olivia so your marriage doesn't end up in divorce like Aaron's and my first two marriages did because of our job," said Rossi before giving Spencer a look, "Even though I'm giving you a pass on attending, you and Olivia better be working on giving me a grandchild to make up for not coming tonight."

Spencer blushed a bit, "I promise."

"I'll also make sure to give JJ and Emily some choice words I've been thinking of since JJ confronted you in a crowded police station since they shouldn't be forcing you into forgiving them while I'll be arranging the team to go through counseling together," said Rossi before smiling a bit as he glanced towards Olivia who was waiting for Spencer while she held baby Spencer with a wistful look on her face as she looked at baby Spencer before looking at Spencer, "Now go enjoy the rest of the day with your family and I'll make sure that none of the team ruins your romantic evening with Olivia tonight."

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer were going out for lunch before Spencer and Olivia took Abigail and Brayden to the National Holocaust Memorial Museum because of Abigail and Brayden both being 11 and currently reading "Number the Stars" in school as the required reading for fifth-graders while baby Spencer took a nap.

Xxxx

The next evening, Spencer and Olivia were belatedly celebrating being married for eight weeks by cooking a romantic dinner together before they spent the next couple of hours having sex for the first time since the night before Spencer’s appendectomy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In real life, a family court judge will consider the work hours that both parents work before he/she determines who gets primary custody while I've been told that grandparents do have a right to refuse on helping out their children raise their grandchildren depending on the circumstances. When my parents divorced, my mom got primary custody because of my dad working third shift and couldn't leave three teenagers home alone every night to work so what happens to Henry is based on what happened to my brothers and me even though Will gets primary custody instead of JJ.


	9. Dorado Falls & A Step Towards Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts the morning after the last chapter and my reason why Spencer is refusing to spend time with Henry when JJ has Henry for the weekend will be explained in this chapter.

Olivia looked at her husband as they ate breakfast, "How mad do you think that your teammates are going to be at you today?" asked Olivia.

"Since I haven't noticed any missed calls, voice mails, or angry text messages about not showing up, I take it that they listened to the lecture that Rossi gave them," said Spencer.

Olivia looked into her husband's eyes, "I'm still angry about Emily's death being faked too, Spencer. While you were in Oklahoma, I went to confession over my own anger issues about Emily's death being faked."

"What were you told?" asked Spencer.

"Father Davison told me that Aaron and Jennifer broke one of the ten commandants," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Olivia nodded before taking a breath, "There are six things that the LORD strongly dislikes, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."

"Proverbs 6:16-19," said Spencer.

"After we talked about Proverbs 6:16-19 and what the Catechism said about lying and forgiveness, Father Davison told me that it's understandable that we're not ready to forgive Aaron, Jennifer, and Prentiss since the lie we were told almost ruined our lives," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "We both know how long it took for your mother to forgive you for committing her against her will even though the priest you talked to when you went to confession to confess that you committed your mother told you that you did the right thing for everyone's safety while you have a chance to live your life, how long it took you to forgive your father, while you know how long it took for me to forgive the men who killed my parents."

Spencer took a breath, "Even though I understand that Hotch and Jennifer were trying to protect Emily while Emily tried to guilt-trip me into forgiveness, I'm not ready to forgive them yet."

"Which I understand, Doc. Hopefully, you and your teammates attending therapy together will help you finally tell Aaron, Emily, and Jennifer about how you feel as a way to help you start healing over the betrayal," said Olivia before looking at Lafayette who was drooling over the turkey bacon on her plate, "I take it that you want me to share some of my breakfast with you before daddy and I have to leave for work?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette let out a bark.

Spencer chuckled, "I take that as a yes."

A few seconds later Lafayette was given two pieces of turkey bacon before he was let out by Olivia one last time so Olivia could drive her husband to the train station in Alexandria, Virginia so he could catch the train that would take him to Quantico.

Ccc

Over two hours later Spencer had just finished hanging up his degrees and rewards and placed various framed pictures of him and Olivia from his wedding, pictures of him and Olivia on their honeymoon in Ukraine and Paris, pictures of him and Olivia with their niece and nephews, pictures of him with his parents, and a few pictures of him and Olivia together from when they were between the ages of 15 and 21 in his recently painted blue office when he heard Hotch's voice.

"Your office is nicely coming along," said Hotch as he placed the files that he and Garcia already chose for Spencer before thinking about the times that the rest of the team gave Spencer their consults to work on, "At least you won't have to worry about any teammates slipping their consults into your desk ever again."

Spencer nodded, "Which I'm glad about since I'm planning on going straight home if we don't get a case at 5 P.M. every evening we're not on a case," said Spencer before realizing why Hotch hasn't left his office yet, "Since you haven't left my office yet, are you about to lecture me about not attending the cooking lesson last night?" asked Spencer.

Hotch shook his head, "Dave had me show up an hour early so he could tell me what he heard Prentiss say to you during the flight home and told me that you weren't going to be coming."

"Do you agree that Emily tried to guilt-trip me into coming after witnessing my confrontation with Jennifer in a crowded police station?" asked Spencer.

Hotch nodded, "Prentiss shouldn't be the one to try and patch up yours and JJ's broken up friendship."

"I do understand that you and Jennifer were trying to protect Emily since my dad and Lou Jenkins protected my mom after Lou Jenkins murdered the pedophile that was targeting me right in front of my mom after my childhood friend Riley Jenkins was murdered by Gary Michaels," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "but I don't think that I can ever consider Jennifer my best friend anymore since she tried to break Olivia and me up."

Hotch nodded, "I understand," said Hotch before taking a deep breath, "Even though I know that you have trust issues that stem from childhood, I hope that you're aware that you're one of the few people that I trust with both Jack's and my life since you saved my life during the times that Phillip Dowd and Chester Hardwick held us hostage while you managed helping Jessica take care of Jack during your sabbatical," said Hotch.

"And I trust you since I trusted you to understand the clues I gave you when Tobias Hankel held me captive for two days while you prevented me from getting addicted to Dilaudid when you saw the track marks on my inner elbow when you rode with me to the hospital and asked me if I took the Dilaudid that Hankel had on him," said Spencer before thinking about the rest of his teammates, "How did the rest of the team handle me not showing up?" asked Spencer.

"They were disappointed, but Dave reminded them that you have a right to be angry for as long as you want since you two are the innocents in everything that happened the past seven months when it came to being lied to about Prentiss's fate, Prentiss not speaking up when she realized that Doyle and his men were murdering Clear Water Security agents and their families, while Morgan and Garcia decided to search for Doyle and Declan without including either of you."

"Even if Prentiss didn't try to guilt-trip me into going, I still wouldn't have shown up since Olivia is severely allergic to onions, garlic, shallots, and many other vegetables and spices the allium family and I refuse to put Olivia's health at risk even though I always shower and brushed my teeth before I go near her after I consume anything that she's allergic to," said Spencer.

Hotch nodded, "Which is understandable since Dave had us use his original recipe."

"Plus before Rossi announced the cooking lesson, Olivia already made plans for us to celebrate our two-month wedding anniversary four days early," said Spencer.

"I understood your choice on choosing to spend the little free time you have with Olivia since Dave and I both told you not to make the same mistakes as we did with our marriages," said Hotch before looking at the clock, "You should focus on your consults right now because the entire team is supposed to head to the psych department at 1 P.M. for group counseling."

"Rossi told me that he was going to make arrangements for counseling since he wanted us to go to counseling together before you insisted on a cooking lesson," said Spencer.

"Even before Rossi could tell me that he was planning on setting up an appointment for us, I got a call from Chief Strauss telling me that she arranged group counseling sessions after she read the incident report that was filed about yours and JJ's confrontation," said Hotch just as his cell phone beeped causing him to see a text message from Garcia, "Counseling session will have to wait since a mass shooting just happened at Synalock Incorporated in Charlottesville."

"OK," said Spencer.

Xxxc

Later on that day Spencer was going through some boxes at the home of Luke Dolan's parents as he looked at Hotch and JJ who has been only talking to him about the case because of Hotch firmly telling everyone that they're going to be focusing on the case and not Spencer's no-show at the cooking lesson, "Post-traumatic stress disorder rarely turns people into killers, but soldiers with PTSD have been known to strangle their wives in bed while having flashbacks or nightmares, believing they're on the battlefield," said Spencer as he stood up to his full height as he thought back to a newspaper article he read from his hometown, "In 2005, an Iraqi war vet assaulted two people in Las Vegas, believing them to be enemy combatants."

"So Dolan's having a sustained flashback," said JJ.

"Pathological disassociation is one of the markers of complex PTSD, although Dolan has been stateside for six years. An escalation of the symptoms is possible, but it would be rare for them to appear out of nowhere," said Spencer.

"Well, he seems to have made a successful transition to civilian life," said JJ.

"Well, at least on paper it does. We should find out if he's had any symptoms since he left the Navy. It could have been the catalyst for the separation," said Hotch.

"I'll have Garcia check his records," said JJ.

Spencer noticed an open journal he found, "Hotch, Dolan's been going through this. Look, old mementos and journals from his days in the service."

Hotch looked at the journal in Spencer's hands, "He didn't come here just to kill his parents. He came to get something."

"He's on some sort of mission," said Spencer before he and Hotch joined Morgan, Emily, and Rossi outside.

Morgan noticed the damaged car that Luke was driving, "The car's washed, spotless inside, there's no paint separation or rust. This accident was recent."

"I agree. The Navy in his blood. He would never let that go without getting it fixed immediately," said Rossi.

"It might have triggered his condition. I'll have Garcia run the plates, check for any recent accidents," said Morgan before walking away.

"So, Dolan left his sedan and didn't take the parents' car. He was smart enough to know it'd be tracked," said Rossi.

"He's either on foot or he's stolen another vehicle," said Emily.

Spencer thought about how he, Olivia, and his brother-in-law all had to deal with PTSD at some point when it came to Hankel for him, Olivia losing part of her left leg to a rattlesnake bite, and Edmund serving in various wars in Europe, the Middle East, and Pakistan, "If he's capable of doing this, he's rational and clear-thinking enough to evade his perceived enemies."

"So despite any mental incapacity, he's still performing at a high level," said Rossi.

At that moment JJ joined them, "Just got word the local P. D.'s at the wife and daughter's house."

"Dolan's unpredictable when he's on a rampage. We need to go wide. We need to get the profile to the press," said Hotch.

Xxxx

Spencer was sitting at his desk texting Olivia that he won't be home for dinner when Garcia walked over.

"OK, so it turns out 6:20 Friday night Dolan got in a car accident in Bethesda," said Garcia.

"That must have been after he dropped off his daughter," said Morgan.

"He suffered minor injuries, he refused medical treatment," said Garcia.

Emily thought about the interview she did with Luke's wife, "Well, his wife said he was fine when he left her. What was his mental state after the accident?" asked Emily.

"Normal. Field sobriety test came up negative," said Garcia.

"That wouldn't rule out drug use," said Morgan.

Spencer rubbed his chin as he thought about knowing that he will finally be free from having to worry about having a schizophrenic break in six days, "I'd consider schizophrenia, except he's the wrong age for the first psychotic break."

Emily thought back to being at the hospital in Paris with Olivia and learning that the doctor was going to have Spencer checked for an aneurysm or brain tumor to be safe, "It could be an aneurysm or a brain tumor."

"Well, one thing's for sure. He's having a mental breakdown, but what are the specific features of it?" asked Morgan.

Spencer rubbed his chin again, "He's not living in a past time and place, he's living in the present, with the capacity and intelligence to evade law enforcement."

Xxxx

After helping Morgan give Wendy Milgram a cognitive interview, Spencer was standing with Morgan and Hotch as Emily looked at them.

"All of the Milgrams' cars are still here, so he must have taken the General in whatever vehicle he came in," said Emily.

Spencer thought about what he learned from the interview while knowing that he needed to stay calm so he could make sure that General Boyd Milgram is found alive so his brother-in-law won't have to attend a funeral of a General, "He talked about gaslighting. He thinks someone's trying to purposely distort his reality."

"He said his parents had been replaced," said Morgan.

"He just sounds delusional," said Emily.

Spencer quickly realized what Luke Dolan could be suffering from, "You know, he might have Capgras syndrome," said Spencer before he noticed the looks that Hotch, Morgan, and Emily were giving him, "It's a delusional disorder in which one believes that their friends and loved ones have been replaced by imposters."

"Sort of like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."," said Morgan.

"It typically involves only one sense, such as sight. Basically, the neural connection between the visual cortex and the emotional center of the brain becomes severed, so that looking at a loved one doesn't elicit the same emotional response one would expect," said Spencer.

Hotch looked at Spencer, "So you think they're an imposter."

Spencer nodded, "And the interesting thing is that the auditory connection remains intact so that if they were to hear a loved one speak and not see them, they'd think that they were real."

Emily thought about how much she missed getting to learn about new things from Spencer, "What causes this syndrome?" asked Emily.

"It's unknown in 60% of the cases, but the rest have an organic cause, such as a tumor or head trauma," said Spencer.

"He was in a car accident Friday," said Emily.

"People with delusional disorders don't all become killers, though," said Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "True, but Dolan's background as a Navy Seal, his knowledge of secret missions, plus Capgras syndrome, could result in extreme paranoia. It's the perfect storm."

"Is there a cure for this?" asked Emily.

Spencer shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. Although medications have helped in a few cases."

"So this guy's stuck with it. He's not killing for the thrill of it, he does it because he believes he has no other choice," said Morgan.

"He murdered his best friend and his parents because he believed they were imposters. So if he were to see his wife and daughter, the results would be deadly," said Emily.

"Dolan kidnapped the General and didn't kill his wife because he had never met them before," said Morgan.

"There might be another reason. He wants contact," said Hotch.

Xxxx

Later on that night at 3 A.M., Spencer tiredly entered the master bedroom and quietly entered the master bathroom and turned on the water in the shower before stripping himself down just as he heard the familiar click of his wife's crutches causing him to look at his wife who was wearing a dress shirt of his as a nightgown, "What are you doing up Livy?" asked Spencer.

"I heard you come in and nature calls," said Olivia as she balanced herself as she lifted up the lid of the toilet before she lifted her husband's dress shirt and sat down and licked her lips at the sight of her naked husband who was about to step into the shower, "After I'm done using the bathroom, do you have room for one more?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smiled, "I always have room for you."

A few minutes later Spencer was standing in the shower washing the stress of the day off of him while Olivia sat in her shower chair as he told his wife about having to catch a former Navy Seal who had Capgras syndrome and killed multiple people including his parents and best friend while he abducted General Milgram before holding him and a few of his teammates hostage in the bullpen with a bomb.

Xxx

When Spencer was done talking about his day, Olivia looked at her husband, "You definitely had a crazy day today, but I'm glad that you came home safe to me," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Me too. How was your day?" asked Spencer.

"Since I didn't have office hours today, I spent today helping Danielle take care of our namesake," said Olivia before sighing sadly, "I can't believe that baby Spencer is finally six-weeks-old."

"Me too and hopefully we'll be able to have our own baby by next July," said Spencer.

"I hope so too, Doc," said Olivia.

"As much as I want to spend some time trying for a baby right now, I need to get some sleep because I'm required to show up at work at 10 A.M.," said Spencer.

"Then let's get some sleep," said Olivia.

Ten minutes later Spencer and Olivia were fast asleep in their bed.

Cccc

Almost ten hours later, Dr. Merrill was sitting in a chair in front of Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, JJ, Emily, and Garcia who were sitting in a semi-circle, "Now I understand that a few of you have been having trouble trusting each other ever since Agents Reid, Rossi, Morgan, and Technical Analyst Garcia found out that Agent Prentiss's death was faked," said Dr. Merrill.

Hotch nodded, "That is correct."

Dr. Merrill looked at Spencer, "Since you've been seeing me and Dr. Sweets ever since you got back from your honeymoon, why don't you tell your teammates about how you have been thinking about ever since you found out that Agent Prentiss is alive. Talk for as long as you want since this session is four hours long."

Spencer nodded as he started to tell his teammates about the goalpost incident, how he felt about Emily leaving him like his father, Gideon, and Elle even though he and Elle have been writing letters to each other since the wedding, that he's still occasionally dealing with migraines, and it's going to take a while for him to forgive JJ, Emily, and Hotch and trust them again for the lie they told.

Xxxx

When Spencer was done talking and Morgan, Rossi, and Garcia all got their say on how they felt about Emily's faked death and Emily apologized to Spencer about trying to guilt-trip him into attending the cooking lesson and Spencer apologized about everything he said in Durant, JJ who was crying a bit looked at Spencer, "After the lecture that Rossi gave me on Sunday, you can take as long as you need to forgive me and I'll apologize to Olivia for accusing her of abusing you by forbidding you from talking to me," said JJ before sighing, "but I want you to stop punishing Henry by choosing to only spend time with Henry when Will has him."

"If I was punishing my godson, I wouldn't be visiting Henry when Will has him too," said Spencer firmly.

"Then why are you refusing to see him during the weekends I have him?" asked JJ.

"Since you claimed that you are a better profiler than me due to me not being able to read your micro-expressions and detect the deception that you and Hotch pulled while we were in Durant, then please profile the reason why I'm refusing to visit Henry on the weekends you have him," said Spencer.

JJ sighed, "I don't know."

Rossi quickly spoke up, "Reid is a Mama's boy who rarely gets to see his own mother because of our job and her schizophrenia so he wants his godson to only spend time with you during the weekends you get visitation with your son."

Morgan nodded, "During the time Rossi and I helped Reid solve Riley Jenkins murder, we were told to leave after Reid's mother had an episode that caused her to be sedated."

Spencer nodded at what Rossi and Morgan said, "When I'm able to visit my mom and she's lucid, I cherish the few hours I'm given to spend with her until its time for our visit to end. When she's having a violent episode that deals with the government or when she believes that she's Professor Reid, the staff members at Bennington don't allow her to have any visitors. Whenever Olivia visited my mother with me, she always snuck away for the last hour of our visit so my mom and I could have some alone time."

Hotch looked at JJ, "Reid, Morgan, and Rossi are right that Reid isn't punishing Henry, JJ. Between Haley and me getting a divorce and Haley and Jack going into Witness Protection, I chose to have Jack be my main focus when I had visitation while Jack is now my main focus outside of work."

"Whenever I go home to Chicago to visit my mom and sisters, my sisters allow me to have one on one time with our mother," said Morgan.

Dr. Merrill looked at Garcia who was releasing some tears, "Are you OK, Penelope?" asked Dr. Merrill.

"I thought that as godmother, it would be OK to spend time with Henry on the weekends that JJ has him since JJ would invite me to join in on spending time with Henry, but now I realize that Boy Wonder has been doing the right thing all along and should refuse to see my godson the weekends that JJ has Henry," said Garcia.

Dr. Merrill looked at JJ who had tears falling down her face, "Now what do you have to say about Spencer's reason on why he's refusing to spend time with Henry during the weekends you get to see your son?" asked Dr. Merrill.

"That Spence is doing the right thing by refusing to spend time with his godson when I have my son for the weekend," said JJ before looking at Spencer, "I'm sorry for accusing you of punishing Henry."

"Apology accepted," said Spencer.

Xxx

Later on that evening, Olivia had a homemade kumquat pie cooling on the kitchen counter and was chopping up ingredients for their tacos when Spencer entered the kitchen, "How was work, Doc?" asked Olivia.

"Even though I was able to go in late today after the events of last night, today was draining because of the team and I having a counseling session together," said Spencer as he looked at the teapot that was resting on the stove.

Olivia took a sip of the pomegranate tea that she was letting cool, "I just heated that water ten minutes ago."

"OK," said Spencer as he grabbed a mug before he found a packet of green tea from the kitchen cabinet before noticing what his wife was making, "Tacos?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "It's Tuesday and you know that I love making tacos on Taco Tuesday."

Spencer licked his lips, "I don't mind what you make for dinner as long as creamed spinach or chili isn't involved," said Spencer before noticing a freshly baked kumquat pie, "I take it that I'm not allowed to have a slice until after we eat dinner first?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "You are correct."

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were cooking their tacos while Spencer told his wife that he might be able to start forgiving his teammates.

Xxxx

Three hours later Spencer and Olivia had just run Lafayette outside one last time before they hurried off to their bedroom where they fell onto their bed where they undressed each other while kissing each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here's a heads up that I posted a prequel called Promised Love: The Beginning since I wanted to write a prequel that dealt with Spencer's and Olivia's friendship/relationship from when they met when they were 15 (I ended up realizing that in August of 1997 Spencer and Olivia would be both 15 instead of 16 since they were born in either October or December of 1981 so I went back and fixed the mistake I made in newly titled Promised Love: The Reunion while this story is now known as Promised Love: Honeymoon Phase instead of Promised Love: Book Two) until their breakup when they were 21 so Spencer could enter the F.B.I. Academy while Olivia eventually joined the Peace Corps because of how much I brainstormed their first relationship. So please follow and favorite the prequel so you readers can read about how Spencer's and Olivia's relationship turned out the first time around.


	10. 30th Birthday & Painless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like having Spencer's birthday be on October 9th because of the episode Plain Sight taking place on the week of October 9th of 2005 and I know that a few other authors on this website have Spencer's birthday happen on October 9th too.

Spencer woke up to the smell of pancakes, turkey bacon, and breakfast sausage while Olivia was kissing him on the lips causing him to smile at his wife, "What's with the wake-up call?" asked Spencer.

Olivia smiled at her husband, "Happy 30th birthday, Spencer."

"I can't believe that I'm 30 now," said Spencer.

Olivia gave her husband another kiss, "Speaking of 30, you get 28 more kisses from me today."

Spencer waggled his eyebrows, "So I'm getting 30 kisses from you today?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes," said Olivia before she pointed at the tray of breakfast, "We should eat our breakfast so we can go to the 8:30 A.M. Mass service today with Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer."

"Yes, ma'am," said Spencer before checking his phone and noticed a text message from Rossi.

I WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND MASS WITH YOU AND OLIVIA TODAY. MUDGIE ATE SOMETHING THAT HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO AND WE'RE AT THE VET. ~ DR

Spencer quickly replied.

IT'S OK. ~ SR

"Dave won't be attending Mass with us today since Mudgie ate something that he wasn't supposed to eat and they're at the vet," said Spencer before sighing sadly, "He didn't even wish me a happy birthday either."

"Instead of focusing on being upset, let's eat breakfast before it gets cold," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were eating their breakfast in bed as they talked about the plans they had for the day.

Xxxx

As soon as they arrived at Our Lady of Victory Parish, Spencer smiled as he watched his 11-year-old niece who was wearing a long-sleeved pink dress that reached her knees and pink converse sneakers, and his 11-year-old nephew who was wearing khaki pants, a light blue dress shirt, a dark blue tie, and blue converse sneakers run over to him, "There are my favorite niece and one of my favorite boys."

Abigail quickly hugged her uncle first, "Happy birthday, Uncle Spencer."

"Thank you, Abigail," said Spencer.

Brayden then took a turn to hug his uncle, "Happy birthday, Uncle Spencer."

"Thank you, Brayden," said Spencer before he broke out of the hug and walked over to his brother-in-law and sister-in-law who were holding a car seat that held six-week-old baby Spencer who had strawberry blonde hair like Olivia and Edmund, "How's my little namesake doing today?"

Baby Spencer let out a few gurgles before smiling at his uncle.

"You're smiling," said Spencer.

Danielle released some tears, "It's little Spencer's first real smile that doesn't deal with gas."

"And on his uncle's 30th birthday too," said Edmund before hugging his brother-in-law while ruffling his messy short curls, "Happy big 3-0 to the little brother I always wanted."

Spencer laughed, "Thank you, Edmund."

Danielle gave her brother-in-law a one-armed hug, "Happy birthday, Spencer."

"Thank you, Danielle," said Spencer.

Edmund gave his sister a teasing smile, "Even though I'm 40, you'll be joining the 30s club with both your husband and sister-in-law soon."

"I know," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer were sitting in a pew while Spencer who was holding his nephew didn't even know that the parish was going to be throwing him a small party during coffee hour after Mass.

Xxxx

Two hours later Spencer was blushing as everyone who stayed for coffee hour sang "Happy Birthday" to him before he blew out the candles of the cake that one of the members baked for his birthday before he opened up a few presents that some fellow parishioners got for him.

Ddd

Later on that afternoon, Spencer smiled when he saw his father's face on his laptop, "Hello, dad," said Spencer.

"Happy birthday, Spencer. I wish that I could be in DC with you today, but I have a last-minute court appearance at 9 A.M. tomorrow and I need to prepare for tomorrow," said William.

Spencer nodded, "As someone who's on-call 24-7 and have to drop whatever I'm doing for a case or have to travel to another state to testify during a trial for a case I worked on, I understand, dad."

"Did you get my gift delivered by FedEx yet?" asked William.

Olivia nodded, "I refused to let Spencer open it until we found time to Skype with you."

"Please open it now, Spencer," said William.

A few seconds later Spencer was opening up the box and his eyes went wide when he saw a pocket watch that had his name and birth-date engraved on it.

"My father got me this on the day you were born, so I wanted you to have it," said William.

"Thank you so much, dad," said Spencer before he told his father about how he had spent his birthday so far.

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer was blushing again as Olivia, Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, Alex and James Blake who both came over for dinner sang "Happy Birthday" to him before he ended up blowing the 30 candles on his birthday cake with Olivia's, Abigail's, and Brayden's help.

Xxxx

Later on that night, a naked Olivia looked at her naked husband after their second round of sex to celebrate his birthday, "Are you OK?" asked Olivia.

"Even though my parents couldn't be out here to celebrate my birthday while you made sure that I had the best birthday, I just can't believe that my teammates forgot my birthday today," said Spencer sadly.

"Maybe they decided that you should spend today with our niece, nephews, my brother, our sister-in-law, and they planned something for at work tomorrow," said Olivia.

Spencer sighed, "I don't know. We're all still reeling about Emily's death being faked."

"Didn't you mention that Emily's birthday is on the 12th?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "This Wednesday is her birthday."

"Maybe the team is going to have a joint birthday party for you two," said Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "There's never been a joint birthday party for us," said Spencer before kissing his wife, "I don't want to talk about my teammates anymore tonight because we should continue trying for a baby."

"As long as we're asleep by midnight because you still have work tomorrow," said Olivia.

A few seconds later Spencer and Olivia were going through their third round of sex before they fell asleep while Spencer dreamed about him and Olivia playing with a baby girl.

Xxxx

The next day in Boise, Idaho, Spencer, and JJ entered the room that Principal Givens was killed in.

"OK. So the unsub has to be tied to the school somehow, right? Current student, alumni, family member who lost someone?" asked JJ.

Spencer looked at the remnants of the bomb, "It could be Slade groupie celebrating his hero. He taped nails to the exterior of the bomb, specifically to rip open flesh. That's a sadistic detail of Slade's the unsub copied."

"Except he tricked Givens into blowing himself up. A groupie probably wouldn't show that much self-control," said JJ.

"But someone with an ax to grind against the principal would. Maybe he's a surrogate for the tormenters in high school he can't punish," said Spencer as he wondered if JJ was ever bullied like he was, "Who were yours?" asked Spencer.

"I don't even remember," said JJ.

"You don't even remember?" asked Spencer before thinking about how badly JJ treated his wife while she also ruined the date that Gideon once set them up on even though not having a second date with JJ eventually allowed him to eventually marry Olivia, "Wait, were you one of the mean girls?" asked Spencer.

"No," said JJ.

Spencer thought about a bit of JJ's past, "Valedictorian, soccer scholarship, corn-fed, but still a size zero. I think that you might have been a mean girl."

"I was actually one of the nice girls, even to guys like you," said JJ carefully.

Spencer looked at the crime scene photos in his hands before looking up at JJ, "Guys like me? I'll have you know that my social standing increased once I started winning at basketball."

JJ looked at Spencer in shock as she thought about hearing that he was exempt from taking gym class in high school, "Oh, yeah, you played basketball?" asked JJ.

Spencer nodded, "I was required to take physical education classes at the Polytechnic School every school year from when I started CalTech when I was 12 until the May after my 18th birthday while I attended CalTech. Plus the Polytechnic School's basketball coach convinced me to join their school's team after he found out that I coached basketball by breaking down the opposing team's shooting strategy when I attended high school in Las Vegas."

JJ thought about the $300 that Spencer won during a pool at work the week before, "Is that why Morgan kicked you out of the pool last week?" asked JJ.

"Yeah. It took him three rounds to realize I was hustling him," smirked Spencer.

"Huh," said JJ.

Xxxx

Less than 30 minutes later in Washington D.C., Olivia who was watching the National News had just watched Morgan give her husband's name and work and personal phone number to the press shook her head in anger as she quickly pulled out her phone and called her husband who answered on the first ring.

"Is everything OK, Livy? Usually, you have me be the one to call you when I'm on a case so you don't call me at the wrong time," said Spencer.

"I know, but I wanted to warn you that I'm watching the national news and I just saw Morgan give your name and phone numbers to the press," said Olivia.

"Which must be his retaliation for hustling in the betting pool I participated in for three weeks before he kicked me out last week. He's hoping that I'll get annoyed about my phone constantly ringing as his revenge," said Spencer.

"Even though he's going to hope that you should prank him back and we were both ruthless at prank wars when we attended CalTech, please don't prank him back until you're either flying home or on Saturday."

"Why?" asked Spencer.

"Derek misrepresented himself to the entire Bureau and his country so the most mature thing to do in retaliation is report Derek's inappropriate prank to your boss and let the Bureau punish Morgan themselves while I want you to keep whatever revenge you plan outside of the office so you don't get in trouble too," said Olivia.

Spencer sighed, "When it comes to yesterday, I might not retaliate."

"The team didn't ask if you had a good birthday at all or throw you an office party this morning?" asked Olivia.

"No," said Spencer before hearing JJ's voice, "I have to go since there's another victim."

"Please stay safe and I love you," said Olivia.

"I promise and I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up.

Xxxx

A few hours later in Boise, Idaho Spencer pulled Hotch aside, "I had an interesting conversation with Olivia earlier."

"Does it have to deal with the brief press conference that Morgan and Rossi gave?" asked Hotch.

"You already know that Morgan gave my name and phone numbers to the press?" asked Spencer quietly.

Hotch nodded, "The Director was watching the press conference at the same time Morgan and Rossi spoke to the press. He called me right after Morgan gave your name and phone numbers to the press and told me that I can't let his actions slide since we're still under scrutiny by the Senate Committee," said Hotch before placing a hand on his youngest agent's shoulder, "I promise you that Morgan will be dealt with after the case"

"Thank you because I'm getting annoyed with the phone calls that I've been dealing with all afternoon, but I refuse to turn off my phone since I need to be reachable to you and the rest of the team while I don't want to miss any phone calls from Olivia or any other family members who need to talk to me about something," said Spencer.

"I agree, but if the phone calls get to be too much you can turn off your phone and can borrow my phone or even Rossi's phone to contact Olivia if needed," said Hotch before taking a deep breath, "Since Morgan pranked you during a case, are you going to be unprofessional and prank him back before the case is over?" asked Hotch.

Spencer shook his head, "Even though I was ruthless during prank wars when I became of age and moved into the dorms at CalTech, I'm going to honor my badge and choose to be the mature one and not prank him back until we're flying home."

"Just make sure that your prank doesn't cause any damage to the jet," said Hotch.

"I promise," said Spencer.

Xxxx

Two mornings later Spencer looked at Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi as he explained the condition he realized that their unsub had the night before, "There's a medical condition called pain asymbolia, where patients register harmful stimuli without being bothered by it. They've been documented holding their hand over an open flame because their brain doesn't send pain signals to the central nervous system," said Spencer.

"Sounds pretty rare. You sure the unsub has it?" asked Rossi.

"The crime scenes prove it. This unsub displayed an unusual level of savagery towards his victims. And consider this-," said Spencer as he pointed at the crime scene photo of the broken trophy case, "he smashed through a glass display case, but there were no cuts on Jerry. That means he most likely punched through it as a show of force. Now, the only way the human body could withstand that level of pain is if he couldn't feel it at all."

"It must take a major toll on someone's emotional development," said Rossi.

Spencer's phone started to ring causing him to not accept the call when he saw that it was a number he didn't know as he thought about how irritated he has been ever since his phone started ringing constantly while knowing that he had to keep his promise on not getting back at Morgan until after the case is over.

"A significant contributor to our sense of empathy is the way we personally experience pain," said Morgan.

"And the unsub didn't develop his sense of empathy because it was cut off," said Hotch before looking at Spencer, "Does every person with asymbolia have this?" asked Hotch.

"Actually, most feel empathy just fine, which makes me think the rest of our profile is still accurate. Loner, invisible," said Spencer as his cell phone rang again causing him to get irritated, "Outcast, boiling rage- SON OF A BITCH!," yelled Spencer as he finally decided to answer his phone as he yelled, "Hi! This is Dr. Spencer Reid. I actually can come to the phone right now with a very special message that your mother is a do-."

Hotch gave Spencer a disapproving look as he made a mental note that Morgan needed to be suspended aside from being written up, "Reid."

Spencer quickly hung up, "Sorry. I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me," said Spencer before deciding to go back on topic, "Where were we?" asked Spencer.

"I'm going to have Garcia check medical records. What causes asymbolia?" asked Hotch.

Spencer glanced at Morgan as he thought about knowing that Morgan was the culprit as he stuttered a bit, "S-s-severe trauma produces lesions in the insular cortex, usually after a stroke. But this unsub's so young, it's most likely caused by an external factor."

Rossi thought about knowing that Spencer must be plotting revenge, "Like a bomb going off next to him?" asked Rossi.

Spencer looked at a chuckling Morgan, "Yeah, a bomb going off next to him," said Spencer as Hotch walked away causing him to mutter to himself, "I will crush you."

Morgan looked at Spencer, "What?" asked Morgan.

"What?" asked Spencer before checking his phone and realized that he answered the call from his eye doctor's office causing him to realize that he has his yearly vision exam on Friday and their receptionist most likely called to remind him of his appointment and to see if he'll be able to make it before going to find Hotch, ”Can I please turn off my phone?” asked Spencer. "Yes," said Hotch. Spencer then went to Rossi, "May I please borrow your phone?" asked Spencer. "Go ahead," said Rossi. 

A few seconds later Spencer sent Olivia a text message.

THIS IS SPENCER TEXTING FROM ROSSI'S PHONE. MY PHONE WILL BE OFF FOR THE DURATION OF THE CASE AND WE HAVE A LEAD THAT MIGHT LET ME COME HOME TONIGHT OR TOMORROW WHILE HOTCH PERMITTED ME TO PRANK MORGAN BACK. IF YOU NEED TO GET THROUGH TO ME, JUST CALL HOTCH OR ROSSI WHO BOTH TOLD ME THAT I COULD USE THEIR PHONES TO CONTACT YOU OR I CAN SKYPE WITH YOU ON MY LAPTOP. IF SOMEONE FROM DR. WERNER'S OFFICE CALLS THE LAND-LINE, PLEASE LET THEM KNOW THAT I'M SORRY FOR THE WAY I ANSWERED THEIR CALL AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE FRIDAY'S APPOINTMENT. I LOVE YOU. ~ SR

A few seconds later Olivia replied.

I WILL. I LOVE YOU TOO. ~ OR

Xxxx

Later on that night Spencer was sitting next to Rossi as he and the rest of his teammates flew home from Boise just as he heard his own voice through Morgan's headphones.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled musical selection with an important announcement. Never wage a practical joke war against a CalTech graduate, because we have a history of going nuclear. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the dulcet sounds of me screaming in your ear. Aaaah!" screamed Spencer into Morgan's ear.

Morgan who had tried turning off his MP3 player but couldn't turn it off ended up removing his headphones and looked at Spencer who looked like he was pretending to be sleeping while Emily gave him glances as she heard Spencer's screaming through the headphones, "OK, kid, that was cute. But that's all you got?"

Spencer let out a few fake snores just as Morgan's cell phone rang causing him to think about how he did some additional hacking so he could make it that Garcia was calling Morgan only for Morgan to hear him screaming.

"Hey, baby gi-," said Morgan.

At that moment Spencer softly chuckled as he heard his screaming through Morgan's phone.

Morgan looked at Spencer who was chuckling in his sleep while Rossi waved a white napkin in Spencer's direction, "Uh-uh. All right, Reid, it's on. Just know that paybacks are a bitch."

Spencer let out a few fake snores before opening his eyes and looked at Morgan, "Before you ask, I didn't ask anyone to help me do the hacking that I did into your phone and MP3 player since I'm a genius who has PhDs in mathematics and engineering."

Rossi looked at Morgan, "I waved the napkin to say that Reid won since Hotch told Spencer that after he pranks you back, the prank war is over."

"No it isn't," said Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "Yes it is since we're both adults and you're going to be disciplined for giving my name and phone numbers to the press."

"I'm not going to be disciplined," said Morgan.

Rossi shook his head, "Yes you are. The director saw the press conference and called Hotch right after he witnessed you giving Reid's name and phone number to the press. After the trouble that all of us except for Reid got into last month, we're under scrutiny and your behavior during the press conference could get you fired."

Xxxx

Meanwhile, Emily went to sit across from Hotch, "Hey."

"Hey," said Hotch.

"How's Jack?" asked Emily as she thought about knowing that her faked death caused Jack to ask if his own mother could come back too, "I just had a feeling."

Hotch sighed as he thought about having to deal with his son being bullied and an inappropriate prank that Morgan pulled on Spencer, "There's a kid that's being mean to him at school, and Jack's solution is to invite him over and make friends with him."

"Ohh... That is the sweetest and saddest thing I've heard. How did you find out?" asked Emily.

"His teacher told me," said Hotch.

A shocked Emily looked at Hotch, "Jack didn't tell you?" asked Emily.

Hotch shook his head.

"Oh, that must be hard," said Emily.

"He wants to solve it himself," said Hotch.

"And you want to let him. But there's probably a part of you that wishes you could step in," said Emily.

"Well, there's a part of me that wants to protect him from everything that could hurt him, but I know I can't," said Hotch.

"No. But you can show him that he doesn't have to face it alone," said Emily.

"How did you get by in Paris and eventually Greece?" asked Hotch.

Emily sighed as she thought about a secret she was about to reveal, "Um, I, um... I played a lot of online scrabble...," said Emily before glancing over where JJ was eating some Cheetos, "With some girl named Cheeto Breath."

Hotch quickly noticed that Emily was looking at JJ who was eating Cheetos causing him to glare at Emily, "You and JJ were very reckless by staying in contact. When Haley and Jack were in witness protection, they ended up being moved after every time Haley contacted her mother."

Spencer's eyes shot open before he quickly stood up and joined Hotch and Emily and glared at both Emily and JJ, "I thought that I would finally be able to forgive you two, but now I can't since you two placed my wife and the rest of my family in danger by choosing to stay in contact."

Morgan who heard what Spencer said got up and looked at JJ and Emily, "We all know that the internet is not always secure since Baby Girl has been hacked before while Reid was able to hack both my phone and my MP3 player in retaliation after I gave his name and phone numbers to the press."

Rossi nodded as he looked at JJ, "You placed Henry at risk too."

"How?" asked JJ.

"He could have had one of his men watching everyone who attended Emily's funeral's internet usage and decide to have Henry, my own son, ourselves, or anyone close to us abducted if he realized that Emily was alive," said Hotch.

Spencer thought about how Tobias Hankel found his victims, "Plus he could have had someone hack into the built-in camera or webcam on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop so he could see who you're playing against causing him to realize that Emily was alive just like Tobias Hankel did to pick out his victims."

Both JJ and Emily paled before Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi chose to sit away from JJ and Emily while Hotch told his male teammates that he didn't know that JJ and Emily stayed in contact.

Xxxx

After arriving back in Quantico, Hotch looked at his team, "Before you guys go home, Chief Strauss and I need to have an emergency meeting with you guys now," said Hotch.

A minute later Chief Strauss looked at Morgan with a stern look, "You've been written up while you are being suspended for the next week without pay for introducing yourself as Dr. Reid and giving his phone numbers to the press. Plus I made arrangements for you to attend classes about speaking properly to the press at the academy while you'll also be giving a formal apology to the city of Boise through a press conference tomorrow afternoon and a script has already been prepared since the Bureau can't trust you to give an unscripted press conference."

"Reid hustled me in the basketball pool," said Morgan.

"It isn't appropriate to retaliate against a coworker while working a time-sensitive case where lives were at stake since you kept Dr. Reid from sharing important information that helped break the case," said Chief Strauss before looking at Spencer, "I'm sorry that you'll have to go through the pain of changing your phone numbers so the press and the public who got your phone number will stop calling you. Your work cell phone number will be changed by tomorrow morning."

Spencer nodded, "Plus my home security will need to be updated too."

"The upgrade of your home security will come out of Agent Morgan's paycheck since he placed you and your wife both at risk," said Chief Strauss.

Hotch looked at Chief Strauss, "I also found out that Prentiss and Jareau stayed in contact by playing online Scrabble against each other when Prentiss was declared dead."

An upset Garcia looked at JJ and Emily, "You two shouldn't have done that. I've been hacked before and Doyle could have had one of his men watching everyone's internet usage."

"Morgan already told us that," said Emily.

Chief Strauss looked at JJ and Emily who were still dealing with being yelled at by Hotch, Morgan, Spencer, and Rossi for staying in contact, "You two are also being written up, suspended for a week without pay, while your salaries are being degraded by two steps for putting the rest of the team, their families, and your own families in danger by staying in contact."

"I need to pay Will child support this Friday or I might not be allowed to see Henry during my next visitation with him," sniffled JJ.

"Well you should have thought about the consequences that would happen before you stayed in contact with Agent Prentiss who was supposed to start a new life and make new friends and not contact anyone from her life here," said Chief Strauss before she looked at JJ, Emily, and Morgan, "Now give me your guns and badges before security escorts you three to your cars."

A few seconds later both JJ, Emily, and Morgan were surrendering their guns and badges before a security guard that Strauss summoned from the land-line on the conference table entered the room and took JJ, Emily, and Morgan out of the conference room and straight to the elevators.

After watching the elevator close on JJ, Emily, Morgan, and a security guard, Chief Strauss looked at Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi, "Since you guys are going to be working with three agents down for the next week, you three will be desk-bound by doing consults while teaching at the academy."

Spencer smiled a bit, "Do you think that I could guest lecture at Georgetown University for a day either tomorrow or next week Tuesday? Both my wife and Dr. Blake want me to tell her students about how I use either math or linguistics for the F.B.I. since they both have students who have an interest in joining the F.B.I."

"You can do that," said Chief Strauss.

A few seconds later Hotch looked at Spencer, "Since you completed your paperwork during the flight home, you can go home to Olivia."

Two minutes later Spencer was in his office putting case files that he had in his messenger bag back on his desk when there was a knock on his open office door causing him to see Chief Strauss, "Ma'am?" asked Spencer.

Chief Strauss handed Spencer an envelope, "Happy belated birthday, Dr. Reid."

Spencer opened up the envelope to find a birthday card that dealt with turning 30 before opening the card to find a $50 gift card for his favorite coffee shop and a picture that Chief Strauss must have taken of him and Olivia on his wedding day before giving his section chief a small smile, "Thank you, and at least you remembered."

Chief Strauss gave Spencer a shocked look, "None of the team contacted you on Sunday or wished you anything on Monday?" asked Chief Strauss.

Spencer shook his head, "They forgot and didn't say anything even though they remembered Emily's birthday today ma'am."

"Why not say anything to your teammates about them forgetting?" asked Chief Strauss.

"After everything that happened since my wedding, I'm a bit relieved they forgot because I wouldn't have shown up at the party my team might have thrown me if they remembered."

"Understandable, but did you at least have a good birthday with your family?" asked Chief Strauss.

Spencer nodded, "Even though my parents weren't able to make it out here because of a last-minute court appearance on Monday or having a schizophrenic episode; Olivia, my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, and nephews made sure that I had the best birthday while Dr. Blake who has become great friends with my wife and her husband also came over for dinner and cake."

"That's good," said Chief Strauss before looking at the clock, "You should head home to your wife."

"I will," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer was getting into his classic Volvo as he made a mental note about needing to get a more reliable and safer car or an SUV so he'll have a much safer vehicle when he and Olivia finally become parents.

Xxxxx

Over an hour later Spencer was eating the dinner that Olivia heated up for him while Olivia ate a piece of pie when Spencer's phone vibrated causing him to see a text message.

I AGREE THAT THE PRANK WAR IS OVER AND I'LL NEVER MESS WITH YOU OR OLIVIA AGAIN SINCE YOUR WIFE HAD CREATED A VOLCANO WITH MY WASHING MACHINE WHILE SHE HAD WRAPPED ALL OF MY BELONGINGS WITH WRAPPING PAPER, NEWSPAPER, AND TINFOIL AFTER SHE ASKED ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS TO LET HER INTO MY APARTMENT SO SHE CAN DROP OFF SOME HOMEMADE DONUTS THAT ARE FILLED WITH KETCHUP. ~ DM

Spencer looked at Olivia, "Did you put baking soda and vinegar in Morgan's laundry, have all of his belongings wrapped up, and make him donuts filled with ketchup?" asked Spencer.

Olivia gave her husband an innocent look, "I plead the fifth."

Spencer burst out laughing.

Xxxx

The next afternoon, Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi were working on their consults in the conference room so they could bounce off ideas to each other as they watched Morgan give a press conference that involved him apologizing to the city of Boise, Spencer, Olivia, and the F.B.I. for misrepresenting himself to the press from a script that Chief Strauss prepared herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I was angry when I found out that JJ and Emily stayed in contact when Emily's death was faked, so I thought that some consequences should be given while Morgan should have gotten in trouble for giving Spencer's name and phone number to the press.


	11. Missing Children & A Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was writing chapter two of the prequel to Promised Love: The Beginning, I decided to come up with a back story on the reason why Olivia and her older brother have an over decade-long age difference.
> 
> When it comes to the topic of shoes in this chapter, I found out that in October of 2011 a prosthetic foot for high-heel shoes hasn't been invented yet while a prosthesis hasn't made me Ankle Foot Orthotics that are molded to fit high-heeled shoes for me.

Spencer walked over to Olivia who was looking through a photo album that consisted of pictures of her would be older sister, "Are you OK?” asked Spencer. 

Olivia looked at a picture of her parents with a six-year-old Edmund and Edmund's late twin-sister Alice who died from an allergic reaction to anti-venom after being bitten by a western diamondback rattlesnake four years before her birth, "Today is extremely hard on Edmund more than me since it's the 24th anniversary of the day Alice was bitten by a western diamondback rattlesnake and died from an allergic reaction to the anti-venom. If she had survived and my parents still decided to plan having me or I ended up being an accident instead, we would be having more nieces and nephews to spoil."

"I know, Livy," said Spencer just as his phone vibrated causing him to see a text message from Garcia.

MISSING CHILD IN ST. LOUIS. EVERYONE IS NEEDED IN ASAP. ~ PG

"A case?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Missing child in St. Louis," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "Can you ask Edmund and Danielle to send me multiple pictures of Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer while we babysit them for an evening after I get home?" asked Spencer.

"I can," said Olivia before looking into her husband's eyes, "Even though you've been cleared to be a full field agent again, please stay safe."

"I promise, Livy," said Spencer as he kissed his wife, "I love you."

"I love you too," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer was getting into his car and driving to Quantico.

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer and Morgan entered the house where Bobby Smith resided with his mother causing Morgan to notice the darkness and the mess around the living room, "Cheerful," said Morgan as he opened up the curtains to let in some sunlight.

Spencer felt his heart clench as he flashed back to his own childhood home looking like the Smiths, "Depression is a vicious cycle. It frequently manifests itself in the degradation of one's personal living environment, which in turn fuels the depression, which then worsens the living environment," said Spencer as he watched Morgan open up another curtain.

Morgan thought about Spencer telling him about the bad times he had with his mother after his father left, "All right, I'll take a look around in here. Why don't you check out the kitchen?" asked Morgan.

Spencer thought about how he would come home from CalTech to the smell of rotting food if his Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon weren't able to help his mom clean the house before he came home as he mumbled, "Ah, the kitchen."

Morgan gave Spencer a concerned look as he watched the younger man walk away, "Is that a problem?" asked Morgan.

Spencer continued walking as he turned his head, "Frankly, I'm not too anxious to see the perishable food version of this room."

A minute later Spencer was checking the refrigerator and freezer to find everything done neatly while no food looked to be spoiled before he then noticed some keys hanging at a level that Bobby could reach before he entered Mrs. Smith's bedroom.

Morgan who was looking through Mrs. Smith's closet looked at Spencer, "Four pairs of shoes."

Spencer tilted his head, "Why exactly is that relevant?" asked Spencer.

Morgan thought about knowing that his female teammates own more than four pairs of shoes, "Come on, Reid, how many pairs of shoes does Olivia have?" asked Morgan.

Spencer quickly flashed back to Olivia's side of the closet while knowing that the turquoise blue western boots that she wore on their wedding day were her newest pair of western boots, "She has four pairs of western boots in the colors brown, black, white, and turquoise. She has a pair of riding boots for horseback riding. She also owns a pair of cross-training shoes for when she exercises even though she has a blade running prosthetic leg for when she goes running."

"Not even high-heeled shoes or sandals?" asked Morgan.

Spencer shook his head, "Olivia was never into high-heeled shoes before she became an amputee while there is no prosthetic foot designed for high-heeled shoes while she prefers to wear shoes that are stable and don't expose any skin ever since she was bitten by that Mojave rattlesnake."

"Even though it's 2011, don't forget that prosthetic legs are getting more advanced every day. One of these days, a prosthetic foot will be made so female amputees can easily wear high-heeled shoes," said Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "I know," said Spencer as they entered Bobby's bedroom.

Morgan noticed the neatness in Bobby's bedroom, "Well..."

Spencer noticed the desk while he thought about how his childhood bedroom always looked neat while his niece and nephew just do their homework at the dining room table at his brother-in-law's house or his and Olivia's house, "She even set up a separate area so he could do his homework."

Morgan quickly realized that Mrs. Smith chooses to spend the little money she has on Bobby instead of herself, "Mom has serious financial issues, denies herself even the smallest luxury, and yet..."

Spencer looked at a framed photo of Bobby with his mother in front of a roller coaster while Bobby held a lollypop, "Splurges to take her son to an expensive theme park and then buys a pricey picture frame so he can remember the experience."

Morgan noticed the sadness in Spencer's eyes, "Was your childhood home a lot like this house?" asked Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "Yes, but what matters is that I survived even though my mother had tried to kill herself when she was depressed."

A few minutes later Spencer and Morgan were in an SUV when Spencer looked at Morgan, "Can you please not tell our female teammates about how many shoes Olivia owns? Even though Olivia and I are not hurting on money, she wants to save every penny she put into our joint savings account for our future kids' education while we're going to buy a ranch when we retire."

"Your secret is safe with me because I find it refreshing that your wife isn't a shopaholic like our female teammates are," said Morgan before tilting his head, "Why a ranch?" asked Morgan.

"When it comes to being the nephew of the owners of a popular ranch that provides therapy horses for disabled children and the times I spent at the dude ranch Olivia grew up on, there were times that I dreamed of being a cowboy. Olivia agrees about buying a ranch since she loved being surrounded by nature while she was able to ride her horse Eleanor when she wasn't studying," said Spencer before smiling a bit, "Olivia and I talked about getting a couple of horses to ride with our grown-up children and our grandchildren when they come over to visit while we'll have cattle to pet."

"You two already planned all of that out?" asked Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

Xxxx 

Later on that afternoon in Washington D.C., Olivia was taking Lafayette for a walk when her cell phone rang causing her to smile when she saw that it was Marissa, "Hello, Marissa," said Olivia.

"Are you home right now?" asked Marissa.

"I'm out taking Lafayette for a walk right now, why?" asked Olivia.

"Can we please meet in person because I have some exciting news," said Marissa.

"How about we go out for dinner tonight?" asked Olivia.

"What about Spencer?" asked Marissa.

"He's currently in St. Louis, Missouri because of a child abduction, so I can use a good distraction tonight since he's finally cleared to participate in raids," said Olivia.

"How about we get dinner at the mall before I help you pick out some lingerie to knock off your husband's mismatched socks?" asked Marissa.

Olivia chuckled, "OK. I'll see you at 6 P.M. then."

"See you then, Olivia," said Marissa before hanging up.

Olivia looked at Lafayette who had went flat Basset as she talked on the phone, "Really, Lafayette?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette let out a groan.

"I know that you're tired, but how about we go home and I cook you up some SPAM?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette quickly stood up and started walking.

Ssss

A few hours later Olivia and Marissa were sitting across from each other at the food court and had eaten half of their dinner when Olivia looked at her best friend, "So what's the good news you have for me?" asked Olivia.

"You know that I've been slowly reconnecting with Will ever since yours and Spencer's wedding?" asked Marissa.

Olivia nodded, "Yes."

"Will has finally asked me out on a date for this Saturday," said Marissa.

Olivia raised a skeptical eye at her best friend, "Are you sure that Jennifer will approve of Will dating you since your my best friend and you were Will's neighbor up until you were 15?" asked Olivia.

"It's been over five months since his breakup with Jennifer and Will doesn't need permission from JJ to start dating again," said Marissa.

"You really want to date Will, don't you?" asked Olivia.

Marissa nodded, "I've always been in love with him and I was devastated when I was forced to move to Pasadena, finding out that a 20-year-old Will thought that I was too young for him as soon as I turned 18 while we both dated other people despite Will having a nearly three-year-old son who’s part of the package deal and me becoming a childless widow when you were in the Peace Corps. So I'm grateful that he's finally going to give me a chance to be more than the friends we were before I moved to Pasadena," said Marissa.

Olivia thought about the pact that she and Marissa made on being godmothers to each other's firstborn kids, "So when should I expect a godchild from you?" asked Olivia.

"I'm probably not going to get pregnant for a few years since Will told me that even though he can never regret Henry, he wants to try to take everything slowly with me even though we're no longer virgins while he wants to make sure that Henry and I get along great. So I won't be surprised if we don't sleep together until we're husband and wife."

Olivia nodded, "Even though Spencer and I waited until we were married, I don't regret the wait."

Marissa grinned, "Speaking of children, have you and Spencer tried for a baby yet?" asked Marissa.

Olivia nodded, "We spent the week between October 2nd and Spencer's 30th birthday trying for a baby, so I'm praying that I'll find out that we've been successful by Thanksgiving at the earliest and or by Christmas at the latest so our first Thanksgiving or Christmas as a married couple can be more special for us."

"I'll pray that you and Spencer are successful," said Marissa.

"Thank you," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "If we're not successful we'll be trying again next year since I want to give birth during the first few weeks of summer break since I don't want to disappoint my students by having to go on a sabbatical for an entire semester because of the due date happening during the fall or spring semester."

"Well hopefully you're successful because I've been dealing with baby fever ever since I got to hold your new nephew during Spencer's birthday dinner," said Marissa.

Xxxx

After Olivia and Marissa were done eating their dinner, they went off to find an outfit for Marissa's date before Marissa helped Olivia pick out some new lingerie to surprise Spencer with.

Xxx

The next morning Spencer and Morgan were standing across from Mrs. Tanner who had reported her four-year-old son Timmy missing.

"I was sitting on the bench, and he was playing right there," said Mrs. Tanner frantically as she pointed towards the playground equipment before looking at Spencer and Morgan, "I looked away for two seconds."

"Were you by yourself?" asked Morgan.

Mrs. Tanner nodded as she smoothed her hair back.

A skeptical Spencer thought about where Mrs. Tanner and her son lived, "You told the police you live in McKinley Heights. That's almost an hour away. You drove your son all the way out here to play?" asked Spencer.

"I was doing things. Shopping," said Mrs. Tanner as she noticed the glances that Spencer and Morgan gave each other, "Why are they looking here? My son isn't here," said Mrs. Tanner frantically.

Spencer thought about seeing the drug dealers dealing drugs in the park while noticing the dilated pupils and sweaty skin causing him to be grateful that Hotch kept him from getting addicted to Dilaudid by asking him to think about what drug addictions do to someone's body as a chemist while he knew that Olivia was devastated when Edmund was an alcoholic for a while, "Mrs. Tanner, please don't take this the wrong way, but exactly what drug are you addicted to? You're displaying symptoms of withdrawal."

"Are you crazy?" asked Mrs. Tanner.

Morgan decided to back Spencer up as he spoke firmly, "Ma'am, we saw two deals going down on the other side of the park when we arrived. You were here to buy, weren't you? That's what had you distracted."

"I can't believe that you actually think I would-," said Mrs. Tanner.

"Your child is missing, Ms. Tanner. Every minute, every half-minute counts. You need to tell us the truth and you need to tell us now," said Morgan firmly.

Spencer looked at Mrs. Tanner, "Even though my wife and I aren't parents yet, we're a doting aunt and uncle to 11-year-old fraternal twins and an eight-week baby boy and we never turn our backs on them for one second when we take them on outings when we're babysitting our niece and nephews so my brother-in-law and sister-in-law can take a break."

Mrs. Tanner gulped as she started to tell the truth.

Xxxx

Later on that night, Spencer was sitting in the backseat of the SUV that Hotch was driving as he, Hotch, and JJ who were heading to the foster home that their unsub 27-year-old George Kelling who works as a 911 operator was holding Bobby and his new victims Connie and her daughter Shannon Barton hostage.

JJ who was sitting in the front seat looked at Hotch, "So what happened to the foster parents?" asked JJ.

"The father died years ago. The mother just died last month-heart attack," said Hotch.

Spencer leaned forward so he would be between Hotch and JJ, "That must have been the trigger. The last person who rescued the unsub was gone. He assumed the mantle."

"And now he suddenly has a house to take these kids to," said JJ.

Spencer realized what could have happened with George's mother, "Wait. Garcia said the mother jumped off of a bridge, right?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah. Why? What are you thinking?" asked JJ.

Spencer briefly closed his eyes as he thought about the suicide attempts his mother did while he was taken to the hospital before he could harm himself while he was on his honeymoon, "Musicology is an imperfect science, but it's uncommon for women to kill themselves so violently. For lack of a better word, they tend to choose more feminine ways to die. Men shoot themselves, jump off of buildings onto the pavement. Women are less messy. They take pills and drown themselves."

After a moment of silence, Hotch looked at Spencer, "So you're thinking that George killed his own mother?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

Dddd

As he was flying home from St. Louis, Spencer who was sitting away from his teammates was sitting alone as he was thinking about Bobby, Timmy, Timmy's mother, Shannon, and Shannon's mother Connie all being safe while George Kelling will be in prison for a long time when Hotch joined him.

"I know that this case wasn't easy for you since you found out that Bobby is a younger version of you while you spent your teenage years in a foster home so you can attend CalTech safely as a minor," said Hotch.

"Even though Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon helped me out as much as they could after my dad walked away, my childhood house was just like the house that Bobby lived in," said Spencer before sighing, "When I first came home for the first time to my mother after I started attending CalTech, I felt selfish that I got to live in a stable home with foster parents who provided me the essentials I needed with either the allowance they were given or their own earned money until I was old enough to work a part-time job, taught me how to drive so I could get my driver's license, while they took me on vacations to theme parks, on vacations outside the state of California since they had notarized paperwork that allowed them to cross state lines with me, and camping trips when I wasn't able to go home to my mom."

Hotch thought about getting to meet Professor Donaldson and her husband when they attended Spencer's graduation from the F.B.I. Academy while they also came to the hospital to be with Spencer after Hankel since Spencer's Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon were unreachable at the time, "You don't need to feel selfish about getting to live with foster parents who took better care of you than your own parents did. We both know that your father should have institutionalized your mother and raise you himself or sign away his paternal rights and have your aunt and uncle raise you instead, Reid."

"Even though my parents and I have started over as a family, I know," said Spencer.

"With the way, you're with Jack, Henry, your niece, and nephews and the few magic tricks you did for Bobby while the paramedics looked him over; you're going to be a great father when you and Olivia finally become parents," said Hotch.

"I know because I promised my father and you that I won't make the same mistakes you two made and I have over 20 job offers that I can pursue if the time of me having to pick my family over my job in the B.A.U. comes," said Spencer.

Xxxxx

After completing his paperwork, Spencer was leaving to go home to Olivia and get a few hours of sleep before he helped Olivia get any household chores that needed to be done before he possibly joins Olivia for a few hours at Georgetown University and help her assist her students during her office hours on his given day off he was given to rest looked at JJ, Emily, and Garcia who got on to him about his comment about Bobby's mom only having four pairs of shoes, "How about 10 pairs of shoes? I mean, that has to be enough, right? 10?" asked Spencer.

"Ah, Spence, it's different with the ladies. We need them to match our belts, our handbags, our skirts, and the fashions change with the seasons," said JJ.

"Yes. Boys are so boring. Pants, shoes, out the door," said Garcia.

"Although it's not like men don't have their things," said Emily as they reached the elevator, "I dated a golfer once. He had 12 putters in his closet. But this conversation is reminding me I need new boots."

Garcia gasped, "They're having a sale at DeMille's on those tall-shaft kitty heels. You like those. Do you want to go?" asked Garcia.

"Yeah," said Emily.

Morgan wrapped a friendly arm around Spencer's shoulder Spencer as they entered the elevator, "Even though you're the only male teammate who's married right now, are you getting all this, kid?" asked Morgan.

"I'm just glad that my wife isn't big on going shopping since she just likes dressing simple unless we're having a date night," said Spencer.

Emily looked at Spencer, "Speaking of Olivia, can she join Garcia, JJ, and me this afternoon?" asked Emily.

"She has office hours at Georgetown University this afternoon," said Spencer.

"What about this evening?" asked Garcia.

"Olivia already promised to her brother and our sister-in-law that we'll babysit our niece and nephews so they can have a child-free evening," said Spencer.

Xxxx

Over an hour later Spencer took a quick shower before getting a few hours of sleep while knowing that Olivia will let him sleep in for a few hours before they spent the morning cleaning.

Cccc

A few hours later Spencer and Olivia were working on cleaning a few rooms in their house as Spencer told Olivia about the childhood memories that were brought up causing them to debate about nature vs. nurture before they spent the afternoon at Georgetown University and the evening babysitting Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer while Edmund and Danielle went on a date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As someone who wears hinged ankle-foot orthotics to help me walk, I can't wear high-heeled shoes or even sandals since I'm required to wear shoes that have good support and fit my braces. I only own a pair of tennis shoes for everyday use, another pair of tennis shoes that fits my braces for when I go to the gym, flats for when I have to dress up, and a pair of winter boots to wear outside in the winter because I have dealt with snowstorms that bring over 14 inches of snow.


	12. Life & Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts two days after the last chapter on October 28th of 2011 and From Childhood's Hour happened a few days prior.
> 
> Here's the chapter that everyone has been waiting for!

Spencer and Olivia were making breakfast tacos that they made for breakfast when the song "Mean" by Taylor Swift started to play on the radio causing Olivia to sing along.

When the song was over, Olivia looked at her husband, "That song reminds me a lot about you."

"Since I was able to overcome the bullying I went through and work a high profile job that has made me a bit famous in the law enforcement and academic communities?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes," said Olivia before tilting her head, "Even though I have met your former classmates Ethan and Parker, have you ever attended any of your high-school reunions yet?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "Work had always kept me from attending, but I heard that my high-school class are going to be having their 20-year high school reunion during the summer of 2014 when we're both 32."

"As soon as you find out the date of the reunion, please request vacation time so we can go and show off how great you did with your life," said Olivia.

"As long as we go to your next high school reunion too," said Spencer.

"Well I missed my 10-year high school reunion because of being in the Peace Corps, but I have my 15-year high school reunion this March," said Olivia.

"As soon as you get the date, I'll ask Hotch for some vacation time," said Spencer.

At that moment the coffee pot beeped causing Spencer to start pouring a mug of coffee.

"OK," said Olivia before her stomach felt queasy at the smell of her husband's coffee while she then looked at the eggs that she was scrambling causing her to put her hand over her mouth and back away from the stove.

"You OK?" asked Spencer.

"Can you just finish cooking breakfast please?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Sure."

A few seconds later Olivia was heading off to the breakfast room so she could sit down as her mind whirled at the possibility of being pregnant because of missing her period while she just got nauseous over the smell of coffee and scrambled eggs.

Xxxx

A few hours later Spencer who had already gotten a message from Garcia telling him that they had a case was sitting in the bullpen with JJ and Emily as he watched a distracted Rossi just read a magazine without turning the page.

JJ watched Garcia and Hotch talk from Hotch's office before looking at Emily, "I so don't miss that face. No matter how many cases we solve, there's always more."

Emily looked at where Spencer was sitting at his old desk that had yet to be taken by another agent since she took Morgan's old desk while JJ took her old desk, "Insert Dr. Reid's statistic about active serial killers at any given time here."

JJ and Emily turned their heads to see Spencer watching Rossi while resting his hand on his mouth and chin.

"Reid?" asked Emily.

JJ let out a whistle before saying Spencer's name in a sing-song voice, "Spencer..."

"There's something wrong," mumbled Spencer.

JJ looked over where Spencer was staring at Rossi, "Why do you say that?"

"He's been reading the same page for," said Spencer as he looked at his watch, "16 minutes and 24 seconds," said Spencer as he sat on the corner of his old desk.

Emily thought about Rossi telling him about his ex-wife needing to talk to him about something causing her to wonder if Rossi was given bad news, "Maybe it's a really good article."

"It's never taken him longer than 11 minutes, 17 seconds to turn a page," said Spencer.

Emily's mouth opened in shock, "You time how long it…?" asked Emily before deciding not to ask since she realized that Spencer would most likely time everyone's reading speed, "What's your theory?" asked Emily.

Spencer got up and started to walk towards Rossi, "I'm extrapolating probabilities as we speak."

At that moment Morgan entered the bullpen and walked over to Rossi, "Oh, hey. Rossi, you think you could help me with a consult for Wildwood PD?" asked Morgan.

Rossi who was still thinking about his first wife telling him that she has ALS and wanted him to help her end her life looked at Morgan, "Uh, sure."

JJ who had joined Rossi with Spencer, Emily, and Morgan looked at her teammates, "Now, that I noticed."

"Is something going on?" asked Morgan.

Emily thought about the meeting that Rossi had a few nights ago, "How did it go the other night?" asked Emily.

"What happened the other night?" asked Morgan.

Spencer looked at Rossi, "You Ok? Olivia and I missed you at Mass on Sunday morning."

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" asked Rossi.

JJ exchanged glances with Emily, "You seem distracted."

"I'm considering a purchase," said Rossi as he pointed at an advertisement that dealt with a thrift store.

"Come on, now, Rossi, you know we're not buying that. What's really going on?" asked Morgan.

Rossi sighed as he stood up and turned around, "Look, it was a late-night with Ringo and not enough coffee. I mean, the guy's a world-class drummer, but don't think I didn't wipe the floor with him in Rock Band."

JJ looked at Emily, "All right, what do you think?" asked JJ.

"He could be telling the truth," said Emily as she watched Rossi smile a bit, "I only played him to the easy level."

"I can't tell," said Spencer.

Rossi pointed at Spencer as he thought about not wanting Spencer to deal with the fact that the love of his life could get sick and die someday even though Spencer already had to deal with Olivia almost being killed by a Mojave rattlesnake once, "And you never will."

Hotch walked onto the balcony of the bullpen and looked at his team, "Let's get started."

After briefing was over, Spencer was calling Olivia and telling her that he'll be outside of Los Angeles, California.

Cccc

The next day Spencer just got off the phone with the medical examiner Dr. Carroll and approached his teammates, "That was Dr. Carroll. Preliminary test results show the unsub has cancer of the blood. He's dying," said Spencer as he sat down next to JJ.

Morgan thought about what they learned about the first victim Jake Shepherd, "All right, wait a minute. Witnesses said Jake Shepherd, the first victim, was out on the lake for a baptism, right?" asked Morgan.

"He was with his congregation," said JJ.

"Well, those water burials can be seen as a form of baptism, too," said Morgan.

"Especially dealing with an unsub who has a God complex," said Spencer.

"What if there's a religious or spiritual motivation to why the unsub is doing this?" asked Morgan.

Hotch called Garcia and put the phone on speaker before setting the phone between his two youngest teammates.

"Speak and be heard," answered Garcia.

"Garcia, I need you to pull a list of patients in the area with any form of blood cancer," said Hotch.

Garcia started typing, "I will make HIPAA my bitch, sir."

"I also need information on Jake Shepherd. Religious ties, spiritual background, anything," said Hotch.

"Oh, all that information will make for a fast search. Give me a mo...spiritual, something heaven-sent, other than my angelic self," said Garcia as she found a newspaper article, "Bam. Whoa. Jake Shepherd joined the church after a near-death experience changed his life."

"What happened to him?" asked Hotch.

"He was in an ATV accident, he coded for four minutes, he was life-flighted to L.A. where they managed to revive him, but clinically he did die," said Garcia.

Spencer held his breath as he thought back to his own temporary death before Tobias Hankel gave him CPR while he had to watch Olivia be given CPR as they waited for a helicopter to take Olivia to the nearest hospital after a Mojave rattlesnake bit her.

"Death and resuscitation. That sounds a little too similar to our unsub's M. O. to be a coincidence," said JJ.

"All right, Garcia, dig deeper. Jake Shepherd's death wasn't random," said Hotch.

"It's on like Obi-Wan. Garcia out," said Garcia before hanging up.

"So a terminally ill unsub targets a man who came back from the dead and then starts killing repeatedly. I mean, am I crazy, or is this about a guy trying to come to terms with his own death?" asked Morgan.

"Finding out you're gonna die isn't enough to make somebody a psychopath," said Hotch.

"It does, however, explain why he stopped strangling his victims. How do you find out about death?" asked Spencer.

"You ask someone who died," said JJ.

"Is he bringing these victims back so he can talk to them?" asked Hotch.

Xxxx

After learning about Jake Shepard's first death, Hotch looked at his team, "If this unsub is so obsessed with death, then Jake Shepherd was the perfect person to talk to. He'd been there and back again," said Hotch.

"But come on, guys. Gentle lights, shadowy figures? Those are the lights in the emergency room and the doctors hovering over the patients. We all know that. No one actually sees the afterlife," said Morgan sarcastically.

Spencer who was leaning against a pillar took a deep breath, "I did," said Spencer as he watched Hotch, Emily, JJ, and Rossi look at him, "Before Tobias Hankel resuscitated me, I had that exact experience. And I wasn't in an emergency room. I was in a shed."

A shocked Morgan looked at Spencer, "Reid, you never told me that."

"I'm a man of science who attends Mass every Sunday when I'm home, and yet, at that moment I was faced with something that I couldn't explain. It's just that after everything that Olivia and I have both been through when we were attending CalTech, after we broke up to follow our dreams, or since we reunited; I know that it's important to believe that miracles can happen," said Spencer.

Hotch decided to speak before someone else can confront Spencer, "What if this unsub has had a similar experience and this is his way of looking for answers?" asked Hotch.

"If that's the case, why kill Jake Shepherd? Why not just talk to him?" asked Rossi.

"He wanted to see if he had the same experience as before," said Emily grimly.

"Once isn't enough?" asked JJ.

"Not if Jake didn't see the same thing the unsub did. He wants to know if the experience can change. I can relate to that," said Emily as everyone glanced at her, "But... Reid felt a warmth and saw a light. When I coded in the ambulance, all I felt was cold and darkness. And I would like to think that there's a different future waiting for me."

A shocked Spencer looked at Emily, "You actually died?" asked Spencer.

Morgan who was in that ambulance with Emily quickly changed the topic back onto the case, "All right, but resuscitation is hit or miss. He can't guarantee that he can actually bring anyone back, let alone that anyone will remember what happened in their moment so-called death."

Rossi looked at Spencer, "Reid, what's the best way to make sure his victims had an experience?" asked Rossi.

"Keep them dead longer," said Spencer softly.

Xxx

As they were flying home from Los Angeles, Spencer who was wearing clean clothes while his hair was still damp from the shower he took after his swim in the lake to keep Chase Whitaker from committing suicide by drowning himself was reading a book when he heard someone sit down across from him and placed a chessboard in front of him causing him to look at Emily who was also in a change of clothes while her hair was still a bit damp because of joining him in the lake too.

"Would you like to play a game of chess?" asked Emily.

Spencer closed his book, "Sure."

As they were halfway through their game, Emily looked at him, "You're not going to berate me for not telling you that I actually died on the way to the hospital?" asked Emily.

"I really don't like talking about my temporary death, so I wasn't going to ask you again since we're all still healing over your faked death," said Spencer.

"I appreciate that," said Emily before taking a deep breath, "Does Olivia know about Hankel?" asked Emily.

Spencer nodded, "I told her about nearly everything that happened to me on the same evening I reunited with her at the movie theater that was showing "Solaris"."

"How did she handle the news about your abduction and torture?" asked Emily.

"She felt guilty that she wasn't able to be there for me, but she's glad that I managed to recover with the help of family and friends," said Spencer before sighing, "When Olivia and I were 17 and she became an amputee because of a Mojave rattlesnake bite, Olivia was actually dead for five minutes when we were waiting for a helicopter to take Olivia to the hospital. I was so afraid that I would never get to ask her out on a date as soon as we were both 18 and living in the dorms and eventually ask her to marry me and I was relieved when my now brother-in-law successfully revived Olivia."

"What matters is that you both survived the life and death situations that you two dealt with and were able to marry each other when I was dead," said Emily.

"When I told Olivia that you were killed by Doyle, we both agreed to still marry each other on the 14th anniversary of the day we met since I knew that you would want me to still marry Olivia on the day we planned even though we found out that you were alive during our honeymoon and Doyle would be arrested a month after the wedding," said Spencer.

"Even though part of me wished that you waited, I'm glad that you two still followed your plans since I didn't know how long it would be until I was able to come home," said Emily before smiling a bit, "I wasn't lying when I told you that I was bawling while I watched you and Olivia marry each other through the live feed that an Interpol agent was sending me."

"Even though Olivia and I went with the traditional vows?" asked Spencer.

Emily nodded, "I was hoping that you wrote your own vows, but I know that you like to be traditional," said Emily before smiling a bit, "Well let's hope to live to old age since I want to see you chase after your future grandchildren."

Spencer groaned, "Can you not bring up grandchildren yet since Olivia and I have yet to have a baby?" asked Spencer.

"I promise," said Emily.

Spencer then looked at the chessboard and moved the piece he needed to move to checkmate Emily, "Checkmate."

Emily groaned, "I just wonder if Olivia has ever beaten you at chess."

Spencer thought about the games of strip chess they played during their honeymoon and during the week Olivia was ovulating while he was thankful that he didn't feel his face blushing, "She has."

Xxxx

Over five hours later a pajama-clad Spencer entered the family room to find a pajama-clad Olivia putting a DVD into their DVD player, "I found your note telling me to get in my pajamas and come in here, but what are you still doing up Livy?" asked Spencer.

"Since you told me that you had a rough case and it's currently 10:30 P.M., I thought that we could talk about the case before we watch "Hocus Pocus" since it's Halloween in two days while Edmund, Danielle, and I all agreed that we'll attend the 10:15 A.M. Mass service tomorrow morning," said Olivia.

Spencer smiled, "Why don't we build a pillow and blanket fort while I tell you about the case."

"Wanting to bring out our inner child since we built pillow and blanket forts in Professor Donaldson's house to watch movies when we were teenagers and eventually with Abigail and Brayden when we babysat them until our breakup?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I built multiple forts with Jack when I babysat him during my sabbatical."

A few seconds later Spencer and Olivia were building their fort when Spencer looked at his wife, "The unsub who was dying from blood cancer was drowning his victims before bringing them back to life until he couldn't revive them anymore."

"Causing you to think back to the time I was dead for five minutes while we were waiting for that helicopter after that Mojave rattlesnake bit me?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "And when the Charles personality of Tobias Hankel killing me too," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "What I haven't told you is that when I was briefly in the afterlife, your parents and Alice who had remained six-years-old were there even though we never met Alice. They briefly berated me for agreeing to break up with you before thanking me for letting you follow your dreams while your father told me that I still have his blessing for your hand in marriage when we get back together. Then a few minutes later, I felt a warmth causing them to tell me that it wasn't my time yet."

Olivia chuckled, "I know that our friends and family thought that we were idiots for breaking up, but we both knew that we still had plenty of time to marry each other since we were only 21 when you got that job offer from the F.B.I."

Spencer nodded, "I know," said Spencer before giving Olivia a serious look, "What did you see when you briefly entered the afterlife before Edmund successfully resuscitated you?" asked Spencer.

"I saw Alice who thanked me for making my parents and Edmund happy again since she picked me out while she told me that you were really cute before telling me that it wasn't my time yet either," said Olivia.

"Emily ended up telling Chase that it wasn't his time after we both dived into the same lake we both kayaked in during the camping trips to the Los Angeles National Park we went on with Professor Donaldson and Dr. Donaldson to keep him from committing suicide by drowning himself," said Spencer.

Olivia groaned, "I missed out on seeing you soaking wet with your clothes plastered to your skin?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded as he started to blush.

"I bet that you looked hot because I'm getting wet at the image of you in your soaking wet clothes," said Olivia as she licked her lips before getting her mind out of the gutter, "We might as well make popcorn and heat up some hot chocolate before we get started on watching "Hocus Pocus"," said Olivia before she put her hands over her mouth again as she felt nauseous.

Are you OK?” asked Spencer.

Olivia took a breath, "I went to the doctor yesterday."

"Are you sick?” asked Spencer.

Olivia smiled, "I'm seven weeks pregnant," said Olivia as she went into her purse and pulled out a sonogram photo, "You got me pregnant when we were having sex on our one-month wedding anniversary."

Spencer gently hugged his wife as he exclaimed, "Even though I got you pregnant a month sooner than planned, that's great, Livy!"

Olivia smiled, "I know, but I don't want to tell our immediate family until Thanksgiving while we'll tell our coworkers through our Christmas cards when I'm starting the second trimester."

Spencer nodded, "I agree, but I'll need to tell Hotch so I can arrange time off for your first ultrasound."

"We can tell our bosses," said Olivia.

Ten minutes later Spencer was sitting up in their fort while Olivia who ended up vomiting after smelling popcorn was sitting between his legs as they watched "Hocus Pocus" before deciding to camp out in their family room.

Xxxx

The next morning Spencer and Olivia were getting ready for Mass when Spencer got a text message from Hotch.

"A case?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "Dave's first wife Carolyn who was diagnosed with ALS passed away shortly after Rossi went to visit her."

Olivia gasped, "Oh my. When we get to Mass, we must light a candle while we'll bake him a pan of lasagna when we get home."

"OK," said Spencer.

Olivia looked at the time on her alarm clock, "We should get going, but no telling Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, and Brayden that they're going to be getting a niece or nephew or a cousin."

"I promise," said Spencer.

"And when we stop by at Dave's, we shouldn't tell him the news either even though the news about him getting a grandchild could cheer him up," said Olivia.

"I understand," said Spencer.

Xxxxc

Later on that afternoon, Spencer rang the doorbell of Rossi's mansion while Olivia stood by his side as she held their casserole dish that held a meatball lasagna just as a solemn-looking Rossi opened the door.

"I know that you wanted your privacy, but Spencer and I baked you a meatball lasagna so you won't have to cook dinner for a few days," said Olivia.

"Thank you," said Rossi before smelling the lasagna, "Since the dinner you two made me smells delicious, can I please share the meatball lasagna with you two?" asked Rossi.

"Are you sure? We were planning on leaving right away so you can have your privacy," said Spencer.

"Since you two remind me of a young Carolyn and me, I want to tell you two some stories about us," said Rossi as he gestured to Spencer and Olivia to join him in his mansion.

A few minutes later Rossi was telling Spencer and Olivia some of the stories about him and Carolyn he has yet to tell Spencer and Olivia as they enjoyed the meal that Spencer and Olivia cooked together while they drank sparkling wine since Rossi knew that Spencer and Olivia weren't big into drinking because of Hankel for Spencer while he knew that Olivia stopped drinking alcoholic beverages in hopes of getting pregnant.


	13. Halloween & Tornado

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts the morning after the last chapter and Olivia goes through weeks eight and nine in this chapter.

Spencer woke up to Olivia vomiting into the wastebasket that she put beside her side of the bed so she wouldn't have to always get up and waste time getting to the toilet by grabbing her crutches or putting on her prosthetic leg when she's dealing with morning sickness, "Are you OK, Livy?" asked Spencer.

Olivia stopped vomiting as she nodded at her husband, "Morning sickness means a healthy baby," said Olivia before sighing, "If I wasn't an amputee, I would have rushed to the toilet so I wouldn't be vomiting next to you in bed."

Spencer rubbed his wife's arm, "It's OK, Livy. If you weren't an amputee and was able to make it to the toilet, I would be right by your side holding your hair," said Spencer as his lips twitched up a bit, "Plus I'm not grossed out because working for the F.B.I. has helped me develop a strong stomach and I can easily eat while looking at gruesome crime scene photos as I talked about cannibalism."

"Just wait until our child has his or her first diaper that has explosive diarrhea in it when you're home because you'll be changing that diaper," said Olivia before she felt like that she was able to get out of bed and looked at her husband, "Happy Halloween."

Spencer smiled as he got out of bed so he could get dressed, run Lafayette, and get started on breakfast, "Happy Halloween."

Cccc

An hour later Olivia who was dressed up like Jesse from "Toy Story 2" and "Toy Story 3" since students and staff members were allowed to wear costumes for the day looked at her husband who wasn't wearing his Woody costume while their breakfast room kitchen, living room, dining room, and the outside of their house was decorated for Halloween as they ate breakfast, "I thought that you were going to wear some type of costume or mask to work this year?" asked Olivia.

Spencer sighed, "Even though I was able to put up some Halloween decorations that are within regulations in my office, I just don't feel like dressing up in some type of costume at work today since my teammates forgot my 30th birthday on the 9th while the entire team is still under scrutiny from when they went rogue."

"Understandable, Doc," said Olivia before tilting her head, "I know that we planned on going to see "The Exorcist" at Georgetown University before I found out that we're expecting, but I don't want to watch extremely intense horror movies like "The Exorcist" while I'm still in the first trimester."

"I understand, Livy," said Spencer.

"Even though we can't watch the usual movies we watched on Halloween, we'll have many more Halloweens to watch the movies we used to watch together," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I know," said Spencer before thinking about a movie he loved, "Do you think that you can handle watching the 1931 version of "Frankenstein"?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "And the two sequels too."

"Then we can watch "Frankenstein", "The Bride of Frankenstein", and possibly "The Son of Frankenstein" if we're not too tired after passing out candy," said Spencer.

"Deal," said Olivia.

Spencer then thought about his wife starting her eighth week of pregnancy in a day, "When is your first ultrasound?" asked Spencer.

"Wednesday at 4:30 P.M., so I was hoping that you could leave work early if you're home since Dr. Carter wants to do an abdominal ultrasound," said Olivia.

"I'll talk to Hotch about leaving work early on Wednesday since Hotch sent me a message telling me that we're desk-bound this week to do some teaching at the academy and work on our backlog of consults," said Spencer.

"Good to know," said Olivia.

Cxcc

Later on that morning, Spencer entered Hotch's office with a few of his completed consults, "Here are the consults I already completed this morning," said Spencer.

Hotch took the ten consults that Spencer had for him, "Thank you," said Hotch before looking down at the consult he was looking at, "I've been working on this one for over an hour, so can you please help me before you either heat up your lunch you brought from home or go down to the cafeteria?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Sure."

Cccc

15 minutes later, Hotch had finally closed the consult and looked at Spencer, "Before you head off to lunch, did you and Olivia plan anything special for Halloween tonight?" asked Hotch.

Spencer looked at the closed office door before looking at Hotch, "Last week we agreed to go see "The Exorcist" at Georgetown University tonight, but now we can't go see "The Exorcist"."

"I thought that you two love horror movies?" asked Hotch.

"We both do," said Spencer as he pulled out his badge and pulled out the sonogram photo that he slipped into the pocket part of his badge, "but Olivia has someone else to worry about," said Spencer as he passed the sonogram photo to Hotch.

Hotch quickly recognize the same photo he was given when Haley told him that she's pregnant with Jack as he gave Spencer a rare smile, "Congratulations and you're going to be great."

Spencer smiled a bit, "Even though my father and I are on good terms, I'm nervous and scared about becoming a father."

"I was nervous and scared too since Haley had multiple miscarriages before Jack was born while you know that Haley ended up on bed rest at 34-weeks, but we were both relieved when Jack was born healthy," said Hotch.

"Olivia is going to be eight-weeks tomorrow, so I'm scared that this pregnancy won't go to full term since Olivia's parents dealt with three miscarriages before they finally had her," said Spencer.

"When Olivia has an appointment and we're not on a case, you can take time off to attend as many doctor appointments as you can," said Hotch.

"That's good because Olivia has her eight-week check-up at 4:30 on Wednesday and Olivia is hoping that I could come," said Spencer.

"You can leave work at 3 P.M. on Wednesday," said Hotch.

Spencer smiled, "That would be great," said Spencer before looking into Hotch's eyes, "I told you first because you're my boss who needs to know the truth why I'll be either coming in late or leaving work early while Livy and I will be telling my parents, my aunt Ethel, uncle Gordon, Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, and Brayden the news when Livy is 11-weeks on Thanksgiving since we want to tell immediate family members that we're close to in person at once."

"I understand. When will you be telling the rest of the team?" asked Hotch.

"After Olivia finishes the first trimester through our Christmas card," said Spencer.

"Are you still going to be sending me a card?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

"Then I'll make sure not to tell Jack yet," said Hotch.

Cccc

Later on that night Spencer and Olivia who were dressed up as Woody and Jesse had just finished passing out candy to the children in their neighborhood including Jack and Henry who were brought over by their fathers, Abigail who was dressed up as Anne from "Anne of Green Gables", and Brayden who insisted on dressing up like him and borrowed his ID stopped by at their house last so Spencer could get his ID back had just locked the door.

"Ready for or Boris Karloff movie marathon?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smiled at his wife, "Yes."

Cccc

10 minutes later Spencer and Olivia got comfortable as they watched the 1931 version of "Frankenstein" and the sequel "The Bride of Frankenstein" before they went to bed since Olivia had two classes to teach while Spencer would be dealing with paperwork again.

Xxx

Two evenings later Spencer and Olivia were holding hands as tears streamed down their face as they watched their child on the monitor while they listened to the heartbeat.

"I can't believe that we're finally going to be parents after meeting each other 14 years, two months, and two days ago," choked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Me too, Doc."

Xxxx

Four evenings later Spencer and Olivia were sitting across from each other as they ate the homemade ravioli they made together as they drank sparkling wine with their dinner when Spencer looked at his wife, "I can't believe that we've been married to each other for three months now," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Me too especially since I'm going to be nine-weeks pregnant with our first child in two days."

Cxx

Two hours later Spencer and Olivia had just got done waltzing to a few songs on their record player like they used to do during the ballroom dance classes they took together as part of Olivia's physical therapy when they started dating when Spencer's work phone vibrated causing him to groan when he saw that two missing kids were found murdered.

"A case, Spencer?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Two missing teenagers were found murdered in Wichita, Kansas," said Spencer.

Olivia thought about knowing about the tornado outbreak that was currently going on in Kansas, "Right where a tornado outbreak has been happening too."

Spencer nodded, "So aside from catching an unsub who is murdering teenage boys, I'll have to deal with thunderstorms and tornadoes too."

"So no watching "The Wizard of OZ" when you get back home?" asked Olivia.

Spencer chuckled as he thought about one of Olivia's favorite movies being "The Wizard of OZ", "We'll see." said Spencer before looking at his wife, "Are you upset that I got called in while we were celebrating being married for three months?" asked Spencer.

Olivia shook her head, "With our upcoming parenthood, I know that you're going to be making the country a safer place for our son or daughter while we don't have to have sex every night you're home."

"Thank you for understanding, Livy," said Spencer.

"Even though we broke up to follow our dreams when we were 21, I'll always be 100% supportive of your job since I wouldn't have said yes to marrying you if I couldn't handle the idea of being married to an F.B.I. agent," said Olivia before she headed upstairs with her husband so she can make sure that he had everything he needed before Spencer drove himself to Quantico.

Xxxx

Spencer got out of his classic Volvo just as a stressed-out JJ exited her own car, "Are you OK?" asked Spencer.

JJ sighed, "Henry is sick and wanted me. Despite Will and I no longer being together, he started a fight about my job when we got called in." "Olivia and I were celebrating being married for three months when I got the text message," said Spencer. "Did she fight with you about having to drop everything too?" asked JJ. Spencer shook his head, "She was extremely supportive." "That's because you two aren't parents yet," said JJ before taking a breath, "I know that you and Olivia both said yes to accepting children during your wedding Mass, but my advice to you is to not get Olivia pregnant. Olivia will hate you for leaving your child with her for a case since Will has always hated my job ever since he got me pregnant with Henry. I just don't want you to lose your significant other and the relationship with your child over the demands of this job since Hotch and I already have," said JJ before quickly walking away before Spencer could say anything. 

At that moment Spencer felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to see Hotch, "You heard what JJ said to me?" asked Spencer.

Hotch nodded, "Even though you watched my marriage fall apart before I lost Haley to George Foyet while JJ broke up with Will because of him not approving our job and being in love with you, don't listen to JJ. JJ isn't your wife while you and Olivia are already expecting your first child. I know that you're going to do everything you need to do to make sure that you don't abandon Olivia and your child like your father did to you and your mother for 17 years."

"I know, and I know that she told me not to have any kids with Olivia because she's worried about Henry while she had to come in since all the other teams are out on a case right now too," said Spencer.

"I won't say anything to JJ now since its normal for children to get sick, but if she doesn't handle the news about your upcoming fatherhood well, I'll remind her that you're not her boyfriend or husband while you're allowed to live your off-duty life the way you want," said Hotch.

"Thank you," said Spencer.

Xxxx

As they were flying to Wichita, the jet started to shake from turbulence causing everyone to settle the glasses of water they grabbed to help them swallow the motion sickness medication they were told to take to help them not deal with motion sickness as they passed through thunderstorms.

"Central Plains. Right in the middle of tornado alley," said JJ sarcastically.

"If this unsub is using tornadoes as a forensic countermeasure, then Kansas certainly is the ideal setting. Tornadoes do pose a significant threat. During this year's super outbreak back in April, there were 336 confirmed tornadoes in just several days, resulting in over 300 lives lost," said Spencer.

At that moment Garcia's face popped up on the jet's laptop.

"Hey. Tell us something good, mama," said Morgan.

"Ok, so local P. D. have I.D.'d your victims. I'm putting this all on your tablets if you'd like to follow along. First up is Jason Meredith, a 16-year-old runaway from Garden City, Kansas. Mom said he took off over a year ago. Next up is Eric Janelle, a 15-year-old foster kid from Wichita. He's been gone for three weeks. Oh, both of these kids have records for possession and prostitution," said Garcia while everyone except Spencer scrolled through their tablets while Spencer looked at JJ's since he ended up sitting next to JJ.

"They were street hustlers," said Emily.

"At-risk kids. This could be a sexual predator," said Hotch.

"An extremely violent one if the unsub is responsible for the damage done to the bodies, especially those missing limbs," said Morgan.

"Well, now, he could be keeping the body parts for some sort of fetish," said Emily.

Garcia grimaced, "Oh, OK, eew. That is my cue. I'm here if you need me with my binary machines that don't say gross things," said Garcia before signing off.

At that moment the jet started shaking causing Spencer to calmly buckle himself in while everyone else grabbed their armrests before watching Rossi make the sign of the cross, "I didn't know you were a bad flier."

"I'm not. I just hate turbulence," grumbled Rossi.

"You know, turbulence very rarely causes planes to crash," said Spencer as the jet started to shake again.

"That does me absolutely no good at the moment. Thank you," said Rossi sarcastically.

"What we really need to worry about are microbursts, sudden down-bursts of air associated with thunderstorms. But a small craft like this, if we hit one of those at the wrong altitude-," said Spencer as he mimicked a sound of something exploding as he snapped his finger, "pulverized."

Rossi looked between Hotch and JJ, "I beg of you to make him stop."

JJ looked at Spencer, "How in the world are you extremely calm right now?" asked JJ.

"I just imagine that I'm dealing with an earthquake since I dealt with earthquakes when I attended CalTech while Olivia and I were home during the earthquake that hit DC on August 23rd," said Spencer.

Xxxx

After leaving the medical examiner's office, Rossi looked at Spencer as they headed to the station, "Dr. Cranston reminded me of you," said Rossi.

Spencer thought about the look of disgust on Rossi's face as they watched Dr. Cranston eat a sandwich as he showed them the remains of the two teenage boys, "Because of his ability to eat while looking at severed dead bodies while I'm able to eat and talk about cannibalism while looking at crime scene photos?" asked Spencer.

Rossi nodded, "Yes."

At that moment Spencer's phone vibrated to see a text message from Olivia causing him to hide the screen of his phone from Rossi.

EVEN THOUGH WE PLANNED ON HAVING FOUR KIDS, YOU ARE NEVER GETTING ME PREGNANT AGAIN! ~ OR

Spencer quickly texted his wife back.

WHAT'S WRONG? ~ SR

I'M DEALING WITH BAD MORNING SICKNESS. ~ OR

Spencer took a breath before replying.

AT LEAST YOU'LL HAVE ABOUT THREE MORE WEEKS OF THE FIRST TRIMESTER AND MORNING SICKNESS CAN BE OVER BY THEN. ~ SR

Rossi looked at Spencer, "Is everything OK?" asked Rossi.

"Even though Hotch already knows, can you please keep a secret?" asked Spencer.

"About Olivia being pregnant?" asked Rossi.

"How did you know?" asked Spencer.

"I've been a profiler before you've been born," said Rossi before taking a breath, "When you and Olivia brought over that meatball lasagna for me to put into the oven, you and Olivia both turned down coffee, I noticed Olivia resting her hand on her stomach a few times, and I saw the sadness on your face as you looked at the crime scene photos, how sad you sounded when you mentioned that over 300 people died in April, and you've been texting Olivia more than you usually do too."

"Even though I'm a profiler myself, I hate being around profilers," muttered Spencer.

"So am I right about getting a grandchild?" asked Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "When I got home from California, Olivia told me that she's seven-weeks pregnant and I wasn't supposed to tell anyone but Hotch the news since I had to attend Olivia's eight-week checkup last week and needed to tell Hotch why I needed to leave work early."

Rossi smiled, "Congratulations, Figlio. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you for agreeing to keep my secret since Olivia and I are going to be telling our immediate family when she's 11-weeks pregnant during Thanksgiving dinner while we're going to tell friends and colleagues through our Christmas card when Olivia starts the second trimester," said Spencer.

"I can't wait to see yours and Olivia's Christmas card," said Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "I'm excited to see how the card will turn out," said Spencer before he texted his wife.

PLEASE DON'T BE MAD, BUT ROSSI PROFILED THAT YOU'RE PREGNANT AND I ENDED UP TELLING HIM THE TRUTH. ~ SR

A few seconds later Olivia replied.

IT'S OK THAT DAVE FOUND OUT. HOW DID HE TAKE THE NEWS ABOUT BECOMING A GRANDFATHER AFTER LOSING HIS FIRST WIFE TO ALS EIGHT DAYS AGO? ~ OR

Spencer quickly typed a reply.

HE DEFINITELY CHEERED UP A BIT AND HE AGREED TO KEEP OUR SECRET. ~ SR

Xxxx

After a long day, a freshly showered and pajama-clad Spencer gave his wife a tired smile when he saw his wife's face on his laptop in the hotel room he was sharing with Hotch while Hotch took a shower, "Hello, Livy," said Spencer.

"How's the weather in Kansas?" asked Olivia.

"Cold enough for me to wear my winter jacket," said Spencer.

"Your navy military-style pea coat?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

Olivia licked her lips, "The first time I saw that jacket on you in the movie theater we reunited in, I just wanted to rip your clothes off."

Spencer chuckled, "Hormones are making you want to jump me?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes."

Spencer took a breath, "Speaking of our unborn child, JJ actually told me not to get you pregnant so I don't lose you and our child to the demands of this job."

Olivia's eyebrows furrowed in anger, "She has no right to tell you not to get me pregnant."

"I wanted to tell her that it's too late, but I didn't since we're not telling the rest of the team the news about our upcoming parenthood until you're 14-weeks," said Spencer.

"When we finally tell her, she'll just have to remember that you're not her boyfriend or husband while we both said yes to accepting children lovingly from God in front of her and the rest of the guests during our wedding ceremony," said Olivia.

At that moment the TV that Spencer had on to monitor the news went off about a tornado warning in Butler County one county over.

"Is everything OK?" asked Olivia.

"There's a tornado warning in Butler, County, so I should probably sign off so I can get some sleep because the unsub will most likely be dumping his next victim during this storm," said Spencer.

Olivia noticed the lightning flashing from the window in her husband's hotel room, "Plus you should get some sleep too just in case there's a tornado warning in Wichita and you have to take cover."

Spencer nodded, "And you need to get some sleep."

"I love you and please stay safe for our baby and me," said Olivia.

"I love you too and I promise," said Spencer before signing off.

As soon as Spencer closed his laptop, Hotch exited the bathroom causing him to look at his unit chief, "I've been keeping an eye on the weather, and there's currently a tornado warning to the East of us in Butler County."

Hotch nodded, "Then we should probably get some sleep just in case the unsub is sticking to his schedule."

"Yes, sir," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer was laying down in his hotel bed getting some sleep.

Xxxx

The next morning Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi followed Lieutenant Beasley to the latest victim who was killed the night before in Butler County.

"Never seen anything like it. Name's Gary Dyson. 16. Runaway from Kansas City. A couple of my guys have seen him before. I. D.'d him off the tattoos on what's left of his arms," said Lieutenant Beasley.

"This particular area get hit with a tornado last night?" asked Rossi.

"Thunderstorms came through. Warnings went out, but no twisters," said Lieutenant Beasley.

"The weather's gotta be the trigger," said Hotch.

"He's following the patterns. We track the storms, we find the unsub," said Rossi.

"Forensic evidence has been washed away," said Hotch as he crouched down a bit.

Spencer looked at the head, arms, and legs that were left behind by the unsub as he worked hard on trying to not picture Brayden who's four-years younger than Gary in front of him, "But behaviorally, it's the most intact crime scene we've encountered so far."

"It's the same blow to the head, but no cuts, no abrasions," said Rossi.

"Except he's missing his torso," said Hotch as he stood up to his full height.

"It was only a matter of time before he missed one. Tornadoes are extremely unpredictable and sometimes last only a matter of minutes before they dissipate. The fact that he was able to leave his previous victims directly in the path of one is astounding," said Spencer.

"So the conditions were perfect last night, but his tornado never came," said Rossi.

Hotch thought about it being four days since the last victim was killed, "It's only been four days. He's accelerating. And the weather's driving him to do it."

"Guys, we know that fetishists are loyal to the body parts they take, but I think that this unsub is loyal to the whole of these parts. If you were to take the missing pieces from all the victims so far, you could almost assemble an entire body," said Spencer.

"So he's not taking bodies apart, he's putting one together," said Hotch.

Spencer nodded as he looked at the remains as he thought about Olivia currently being nine-weeks pregnant.

Lieutenant Beasley looked at Spencer, "Are you OK?" asked Lieutenant Beasley.

"What I'm about to say stays between the four of us, but my wife is nine-weeks pregnant with our first child while I also have an 11-year-old nephew so this case is getting onto me since I also have a niece and two nephews back home in D.C.," said Spencer.

"So you're picturing your nephew right now?" asked Lieutenant Beasley.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

Xxxx

After giving the profile, Spencer found Hotch in the hallway, "Hey, Hotch. I've been thinking- the vast majority of unsubs with this type of M.O. aren't driven by the killing. They're really fascinated by the body parts. Psychologically they exist in a realm where fantasy meets delusion. It's basically the perfect blueprint for the creation of a serial killer-," said Spencer before he realized that he was rambling, "I'm rambling, aren't I?" asked Spencer.

Hotch nodded, "Yes."

"Should probably get to the point. I think I know how this unsub may have gotten started," said Spencer as he headed to the clear board with Hotch following him as he shook a marker and started to draw a stick figure as he gained an audience, "All right, the first victim was found missing his right leg, the second, both arms, and the third had no torso. So that leaves the left leg and the head unaccounted for. We can assume the head would be the most difficult piece to find."

"That part would have to fit an unsub's fantasy perfectly," said Spencer.

"So he'd most likely save it for last. Now, what that tells us is there's a victim out there we haven't found yet who's missing his left leg," said Spencer.

"Or the unsub hasn't acquired it yet," said Morgan.

"True, but most body part collectors evolve to this level, and in many cases, they exhume bodies for parts before they start killing," said Spencer.

"All right, let me call Garcia," said Morgan as he went to call Garcia.

"So you think our unsub did the same thing," said Emily.

"P. G. at your service, don't let the name fool you," said Garcia through the speaker.

"Baby girl, you're on speaker," said Morgan.

Garcia, can you look for grave robberies in tornado alley over the last five years?" asked Spencer.

Garcia started typing, "Okey-dokey. Searching," said Garcia before she saw a long list of reports, "Oh. That's a shockingly big list. Who knew grave-robbing was so on-trend?" asked Garcia.

"How many of those involve the bodies of teenage boys?" asked Rossi.

Garcia did some typing, "Uh... None."

"What about morgues and funeral homes?" asked Emily.

"Momentito...," said Garcia before she did some more typing, "Again, that is a list that should not be that big. Mostly stolen embalming fluid, though."

"It's often used like PCP, Garcia," said Morgan.

"I'm feeling optimistic about the youth of America. There are no teenagers involved in this either," said Garcia.

Spencer thought about the body part his own wife lost to amputation to save her own life, "All right, try looking for thefts involving body parts, specifically left legs."

"Ok, eew! See, this is why I can't talk about how my day was at dinner. Breakfast, lunch," said Garcia before she found only one report, Spencer, you scare me."

Rossi thought about knowing how Spencer can easily eat while looking at gruesome crime scene photos, talk about microbursts crashing planes, and being able to narrow down a victim or unsub to one name quickly, "Join the club."

Spencer looked at Rossi in shock.

"A left leg was stolen off a body a year ago at the Riggio Funeral Home in Tulsa. They never found who did it," said Garcia.

"Garcia, what was the weather like in the area at the time?" asked Hotch.

"Uh, thunderstorms and tornadoes. An F2 cyclone hit right around there, and then the robbery took place after they evacuated," said Garcia.

"It's gotta be our unsub," said Morgan.

"Wait, there's more. The guy whose leg was stolen, he was a 47-year-old father of two who died of leukemia," said Garcia.

"That's a huge jump. Preferential child sex offenders don't usually stray from their preferred age range," said Rossi.

"It's not about the sex at all. He used the body from the funeral home to develop his M. O. so he could live out his fantasy and kill in a storm," said Hotch.

"It still doesn't explain what or who he's building," said Emily.

"Whatever it is, this unsub won't stop until he finds a perfect head. That's the final piece to his puzzle," said Spencer as he looked at his drawing.

Xxxx

After finding out about their unsub Travis James who lost family members to two different tornadoes, "10 years ago his brother got ripped apart, and now he's trying to put him back together? But why start killing now?" asked Morgan.

"Garcia, send me current weather reports for the area, including radar images if you have them," said Hotch.

"Ask and you shall receive. It is on your tablets," said Garcia.

Hotch started to look at his tablet, "With the weather in the area, he's going to be so excited, he won't wait. He'll take the boy to the closest area with the most activity."

Morgan nodded as he studied the radar, "That's right around here, just southeast of us."

Spencer who was staring out the window and watching the lightning looked at his teammates, "It's Frankenstein."

"What?" asked Morgan.

"The unsub isn't just trying to put his brother back together, he's trying to bring him back from the dead. He believes that tornadoes have the power to take life, so conversely, they should have the power to restore it," said Spencer.

"We'll pick up Rossi and Prentiss on the way. Let's go," said Hotch.

A minute later Spencer was putting on his Kevlar before he put on his navy blue military-style peacoat.

Sssss

After being forced to be checked over by medics to make sure that he didn't get any injuries from the tornado he ended up taking cover from and reuniting Shaun with his family, Spencer smiled when his wife answered the phone, "Hello, Livy. I don't care how late it is in D.C., but I thought that I should at least tell you that I'll be coming home as soon as the weather clears tomorrow afternoon," said Spencer.

"That's good, but you sound exhausted Spencer," said Olivia.

"I ended up seeing a tornado up close before Morgan, JJ, the Lieutenant who called us in, the surviving victim, and I all took cover in a nearby storm cellar," said Spencer.

"I'm glad that you're safe and sound, Spencer," said Olivia.

"Me too," said Spencer before looking around before whispering, "Plus when I get home tomorrow sometime afternoon, I might be the one to jump you."

"That bad?" asked Olivia.

"The unsub chose to commit suicide by allowing the approaching tornado to suck him up while he took the remains of previous victims with him," said Spencer.

"I'm not going to chide you for allowing the unsub to commit suicide because yours, your teammates, and the victim's safety was more important," said Olivia.

"That's what Hotch told us when JJ, Morgan, Lieutenant Beasley, and myself told him what happened," said Spencer before looking at his watch that was on central time while knowing that it's late in D.C., "I should let you get some sleep."

"Try to get some sleep too," said Olivia.

"I love you," said Spencer.

"I love you too," said Olivia before hanging up.

Cxxx

The next afternoon, Spencer entered his and Olivia's house and locked up his revolver to find Olivia who was wearing one of his cardigan sweaters napping on the couch while a fire roared in the fireplace causing him to peck his wife on the lips.

Olivia opened her eyes and smiled at her husband, "Welcome home Doc."

"What do you say about celebrating me being home before I cook us dinner or we order a pizza?" asked Spencer.

Olivia smiled, "Brilliant idea, Doc," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia had made sure that their doors were locked and curtains were shut before they emotionally reconnected with each other in front of their fireplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know quite a bit about tornadoes because I was obsessed with the weather when I was a child and constantly watched the Weather Channel a lot while I ended up taking an Earth Science class in my senior year of high school and had a unit that dealt with tornadoes while I once had to deal with an EF-0 tornado when I was attending afternoon kindergarten when I was six and a severe thunderstorm that once brought a funnel could into my hometown when I was 12. Plus I'm used to snowstorms that can dump over a foot of snow and polar vortexes where I live.


	14. Thanksgiving & Sharing the News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HERE IS MY FIRST POSTED CHAPTER IN 2021! I ended up staying home and worked on this chapter while I watched the ball drop in New York City and the fleur-de-lis drop in New Orleans while I had to comfort two of my dogs after some neighbors set up some fireworks after I hugged and kissed my three dogs when it reached midnight in Wisconsin.
> 
> I decided to skip Hope and go straight to Thanksgiving, so Olivia is 11-weeks pregnant during the beginning of the chapter while there's a tiny bit of a crossover in this chapter too because of a TV show that I've been binge-watching the past couple of weeks and had started watching season four yesterday. Please feel free to guess which TV show character showed up from.

Spencer was sitting across from one of the F.B.I. psychologists 26-year-old Lance Sweets who is a fellow child prodigy with two doctorates and refused to let him run circles around him when a then 22-year-old Lance became his therapist after the Hankel case and they ended up becoming great friends when they found out that they had a lot in common, "My parents are flying in from Las Vegas today for Thanksgiving, Lance," said Spencer.

Lance nodded, "That's good."

Spencer thought about Lance knowing about his upcoming parenthood, "Olivia and I are also planning on sharing the news of our upcoming parenthood before we eat Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I'm nervous that I'll just be like my father, but my father, Hotch, and Rossi all told me not to make the same mistakes they made."

Lance thought about the first time he met Olivia when Olivia accompanied Spencer to the first appointment he had with Spencer after Emily's 'death' and the talks he had with Olivia during Spencer's hospitalization after finding out that Emily was alive in Paris, "Plus Olivia is strong enough to cope with your job and isn't scared of your mother's schizophrenia."

"When I first told Olivia about my mom on my 16th birthday, she was very supportive and didn't run off when I told her that schizophrenia is genetic while she was there for me when I finally institutionalized my mother," said Spencer before he moved a chess piece and grinned, "Checkmate."

"Are you looking forward to teaching your son and daughter to play chess?" asked Lance.

Spencer nodded, "I am, but it's going to be over three years before I'm able to teach my son or daughter how to play chess."

"Those years will go by quickly, Spencer," said Lance.

xxx

Spencer smiled as his parents approached him at the terminal, "I'm glad that you two were able to make it out here for Thanksgiving," said Spencer.

After hugging her son, Diana smiled, "Me too, sweetheart."

Spencer thought about his Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon going up to Reno, Nevada to spend Thanksgiving with Travis who had recently told him that Christina is 18-weeks pregnant with Adeline's little sister and they found out about the pregnancy two days after the wedding, "I just wish that Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon were able to come out here."

Diana nodded, "Me too, but I'm excited about getting another great-niece while I wait to finally be a grandmother.

Spencer blushed a bit as he thought about promising Olivia that they'll reveal the news as they go around saying what they're thankful for.

xxxx

The next morning Spencer looked at his wife who was pulling off her pajama top, "You should look in the mirror, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia glared at her husband, "To see how fat I got?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "No. Your baby bump is finally showing."

Olivia quickly put on her prosthetic leg and stood up and walked to the mirror and stood sideways and rested her hands on her baby bump as she gasped, "Oh my goodness."

Spencer nodded as he knelt down and rested his hands on his wife's baby bump, "Happy Thanksgiving, Baby Reid."

Olivia who had finally gotten over her morning sickness licked her lips, "The downside of being a pregnant amputee is that I have to limit the number of calories I eat so I can be able to walk with the aid of my prosthetic leg as long as possible."

"I don't think that it would be an issue if you splurge today. You're always going to be the most beautiful woman in the world in my opinion."

Olivia pulled her husband into a kiss, "I'm glad that you love me so much, Spencer.

"Me too, Livy," said Spencer just as his stomach growled.

Olivia thought about her, Spencer, Edmund, and Danielle agreeing to have Thanksgiving at Edmund's and Danielle's house so it would be easier to take care of recently turned three-month-old Baby Spencer, "We might as well go fix some breakfast before your parents and us head across the street to help Edmund and Danielle cook while taking turns being on Baby Spencer duty."

Spencer nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

xxxx

20 minutes later Spencer and Olivia had just placed a stack of pecan pancakes, a bowl of cut-up fruit, and toast onto the table in the breakfast room when Diana and William who were both dressed for the day entered the room.

"Breakfast looks delicious you two," said Diana.

Spencer smiled, "Thanks, mom."

"Now let's eat so we can head across the street," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Diana, and William were digging into their breakfast when Diana looked at her son and daughter-in-law, "Are you two sure that Edmund and Danielle don't mind having me over for Thanksgiving dinner? We never knew when I'm going to be having an episode and I can scare Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer."

"Spencer and I told Abigail and Brayden about what schizophrenia is and they know that Spencer, their parents, William, and I won't be leaving you alone with them," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "You're going to be fine, mom."

"Plus Edmund and Danielle agreed to just have it be just them, the four of us, Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer so we can keep Thanksgiving dinner low-key for you too," said Olivia.

xxxx

A few hours later Spencer, Olivia, Diana, William, Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, and Marissa who ended up being invited because of her parents and older brother all being dead while Will had to work were gathered around the dining room table while baby Spencer sat in his baby swing while Aunt Ethel, Uncle Gordon, Travis, Christina, and Adeline were Skyping with them when the Reid family and Hartford family started going around the table to say what they were thankful for.

"I'm thankful to be done with active duty while Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, Baby Spencer, and I are finally living in the United States again," said Edmund.

"I'm thankful for having my husband home safe and having three beautiful and healthy children," said Danielle.

Abigail smiled at her parents, aunt, and uncle, "I'm thankful that my dad is home while I'm able to live in the same city as Aunt Olivia and Uncle Spencer."

"I'm thankful that my dad is done with active duty while I have a little brother," said Brayden.

"I'm thankful that my two of my best friends had finally married each other while I'm finally dating Will," said Marissa.

"I'm thankful that Spencer has allowed me to be in his life for the past three years and that I'll be spending my upcoming retirement living with Spencer and Olivia," said William.

"I'm thankful that my son has finally married Olivia and I'm about to be a grandmother," said Diana.

Everyone in the dining room looked at Diana in shock.

"You know?" asked Olivia.

Diana nodded, "A mother knows, Olivia."

Abigail looked at her aunt and uncle, "Is Professor Reid right about you two expecting a baby?" asked Abigail.

Olivia nodded as she took a deep breath, "I was going to say that I'm thankful for being 11-weeks pregnant with Spencer's and my first child before my mother-in-law spilled the beans," said Olivia just as screams erupted in the dining room or from Spencer's laptop causing Baby Spencer who was fast asleep to start crying.

xxxx

After everyone was done celebrating, the Reid and Hartford family were finally eating their dinner when Diana looked at her son and daughter-in-law, "I'm sorry that I said something before you could share the news Olivia, but I can't wait to meet my first two granddaughters in May or June."

"Why are you saying that I'm having twin girls? Spencer and I only saw one baby on the ultrasound I had at eight-weeks and it's too soon to find out if we're having a girl," said Olivia.

"Are you having another ultrasound at 12-weeks, Olivia?" asked Diana.

Olivia nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Diana smiled, "Just wait and see because you're going to be learning the phrase about a mother knowing everything because I knew that I was having a boy when I was pregnant with Spencer."

Danielle nodded, "Don't argue with your mother-in-law, Olivia. I just knew that Abigail and Brayden were going to be a girl and a boy before I had the ultrasound to confirm their genders while I knew that Baby Spencer was going to be a boy when I refused to find out the gender until birth."

Spencer looked at his wife, "Even though I always don't believe in dream analysis, I've been dreaming about us playing with either identical or fraternal twin girls nearly every night before and after you told me that we're expecting."

Olivia rested a hand on her baby bump, "We'll just have to wait about two months to find out if you three are right," said Olivia before smiling at her brother and best friend, "Edmund and Marissa, Spencer and I had already agreed that you two will be godparents to this baby or the twins depending on what my next ultrasound reveals."

Marissa squealed in excitement as she hugged Olivia before hugging a reluctant Spencer, "I'm so honored."

Edmund looked at his sister and brother-in-law, "Are you sure? What about Spencer's male teammates?" asked Edmund.

"Spencer and I agreed that we would pick godparents from my side of our family during my first pregnancy while godparents would be picked from Spencer's side during my next pregnancy," said Olivia before she reached over to get some more glazed sweet potatoes.

xxxx

A few hours later Spencer, Olivia, Diana, and William were starting to decorate Spencer's and Olivia's artificial Christmas tree that Spencer and Olivia already bought at a nearby Hobby Lobby before they decorated the rest of the living room.

xxxxx

Six days later on November 30th, Spencer who had taken the morning off because of having his six-month cleaning scheduled for 10 A.M. was sitting next to Olivia as he watched Dr. Carter perform Olivia's 12-week ultrasound.

"How's the baby?" asked Spencer.

Dr. Carter smiled, "It seemed like the baby you saw four weeks ago was hiding his or her twin, but they both look healthy right now."

Olivia smiled as tears fell down her face as she looked at her smiling husband who also had some tears falling down his face, "Your mother was right about me being pregnant with twins, Spencer."

Spencer nodded, "I know."

Olivia quickly used her eidetic memory to flashback to her day planner that included the dates that she's supposed to give tests and exams to her students before looking at Dr. Carter, "Do you think that I can continue working until after I give final exams at 35-weeks?" asked Olivia.

"Since you told me that you have a teaching assistant to help you out and you sometimes Skype with your students during office hours from home; I'll let you continue working until after you give finals in May as long as you don't let your blood pressure get high, keep your blood sugar levels within range, eat no more than an extra 600 calories a day, exercise regularly, and you agree to use a wheelchair when I tell you to," said Dr. Carter.

Olivia nodded, "I promise."

"Plus if you haven't given birth by the 38th week on May 29th, I'll be inducing labor or delivering the twins by C-section depending on the position of the twins," said Dr. Carter.

Olivia squeezed her husband's hand, "I understand, Dr. Carter," said Olivia before shifting herself, "Are we done now because I really need to pee while Spencer has to be at the dentist in 45 minutes."

Dr. Carter smiled, "Just give me five more minutes to take some more pictures of the Reid twins."

"OK," said Olivia.

xxx

Ten minutes later Spencer and Olivia were leaving Dr. Carter's office with five copies of the ultrasound photos while Olivia forwarded the email of the ultrasound photos that were emailed to her brother, Spencer's father, Bennington Sanitarium, and her remaining relatives in Arizona before Olivia called Marissa to tell her that she and Spencer are expecting twins and she's going to be godmother to both twins instead of just one of the twins.

xxxxxx

Two evenings later, Spencer and Olivia were standing between their already decorated Christmas tree and their fireplace that had a roaring fire and four stockings that had the names, Spencer, Baby Genius One, Baby Genius Two, and Olivia embroidered on them hanging from the mantle while a chalkboard that had WE'VE BEEN NAUGHTY written on it was placed front of them.

"I want you two to kiss each other while I take a picture," said Danielle.

Olivia smiled, "OK, Dani."

A few seconds later Danielle was taking a few pictures of Spencer and Olivia kissing each other before she, Spencer, and Olivia worked together on creating a photo card that included the best copy of the pictures she just took of Spencer and Olivia kissing each other, a picture of Olivia's 12-week ultrasound photo, typed in Spencer's and Olivia's Merry Christmas message, and created a background for their photo card before they printed over 100 copies with the photo paper they bought and started putting their cards into envelopes that Olivia had addressed that morning.

xxx

The next morning Spencer placed a tray filled with Olivia's current craving French toast, turkey bacon, and kumquats onto Olivia's nightstand before he pressed his lips against Olivia's lips.

Olivia opened her eyes and smiled at her husband, "What's with the wake-up call, Doc?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smiled at his wife, "Happy birthday, Livy."

Olivia sighed, "I can't believe that I'm finally 30."

Spencer nodded, "Me too, Livy," said Spencer before looking at the breakfast he fixed for his wife and himself, "We should eat our breakfast before we spend the day doing whatever you want before we have dinner with Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, Baby Spencer, and Marissa this evening."

"One thing I want to do is mail out our Christmas cards today to everyone we planned on sending Christmas cards to," said Olivia.

"Are you sure that you want to send them out today instead of waiting until the 14th week?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "The chances of miscarriage are very slim now while my baby bump is more visible than it was last week," said Olivia before smiling at her husband, "Instead of mailing the cards to your teammates' houses or apartments, why don't you give them their cards on Monday?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "I'd like that because I will never forget their faces when they find out that we're having twins."

"You haven't told Aaron or David that we're having twins instead yet?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "Even though they knew that you're pregnant, I thought that they could be surprised about the twins like the rest of the team."

Olivia smiled, "You're very devious, Doc."

Spencer nodded, "I know."

Olivia looked at their breakfast, "Why don't you carry me to the toilet so I could go to the bathroom before we eat our breakfast and spend an hour or two working off the calories in bed and then go paint and furniture shopping for the desert-themed nursery I want the twins to have."

Spencer shook his head as lifted his wife into a bridal carry and carried her to the bathroom.

xxxx

Later on that morning, Spencer and Olivia went shopping for paint and furniture for the nursery before Olivia put her husband, older brother, and oldest nephew to work by painting the cactuses she already drew onto the wall while she, Danielle, Abigail, Marissa, and Baby Spencer went shopping for some maternity clothes for herself and get their nails done.

xxxx

Later on that evening, Marissa who was the only guest who had to leave yet handed Olivia a gift bag, "I decided to give you my birthday gift to you after your niece and nephews went home because of you refusing to let me through you a 'dirty 30' birthday party," said Marissa.

Spencer's and Olivia's faces both turned fire-engine red.

"Seriously, Marissa?" asked Olivia.

Marissa nodded, "I just got you a few things to make your sex life with Spencer more interesting while your pregnancy with my godchildren progresses," said Marissa before smirking, "I'm going to get going so you two can have some hot birthday sex," said Marissa before quickly leaving the house.

Olivia looked at her husband as she locked the door and armed the security system, "Out of all the friends I could have made at the Polytechnic School, why did I end up staying best friends with Marissa?" asked Olivia.

"You two have been there for each other for over 14 years while you two bonded over being the new girls and having older brothers in the military until Marissa's brother died when we were 19 when he was helping save victims during the 9/11 terrorist attacks," said Spencer.

Olivia looked at the gift bag with a wary eye, "Do you want to see what Marissa got for me?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "We might as well since you made blindfolds fun for me."

Olivia shook her head as she reached into the bag to find a blindfold, fuzzy handcuffs, and a few other gifts that caused Spencer's pants to start getting tight causing them to quickly run Lafayette before heading to their bedroom.

xxxxx

Two mornings later Spencer had his daily briefing about the paperwork they had to do for the week and any classes they had to teach at the academy for the week when Spencer looked at his teammates, "I have something for you guys," said Spencer as he reached into his messenger bag and pulled out six red envelopes and passed them to each teammate.

A few seconds later Spencer smiled a bit as he watched Hotch, Rossi, Emily, Morgan, JJ, and Garcia open up the envelopes only for Morgan's jaw to drop at the sight of the ultrasound photo while Garcia let a squeal of excitement.

"This is the cutest baby announcement ever!" exclaimed Garcia.

Emily grinned, "How far is Olivia?" asked Emily.

"She'll be 13-weeks tomorrow and our immediate family has known since Thanksgiving," said Spencer.

Hotch gave Spencer a rare smile, "Congratulations again, Reid."

"Thank you," said Spencer.

Rossi kissed Spencer on each cheek, "Congratulations again, Figlio."

Spencer blushed.

Garcia whipped her head, "You two knew?" asked Garcia.

Hotch nodded, "I needed to know the truth about why Reid needed to take time off, but I didn't know that Olivia is pregnant with twins until I opened my card."

"I had an inkling that Reid and Olivia were expecting and I asked him while we were in Kansas a few weeks ago," said Rossi before smiling at Spencer, "Even though you promised to give me a grandchild, I'm even more excited about getting two grandchildren at once."

Spencer nodded, "Olivia and I were extremely happy when we found out that we were having twins during Olivia's 12-week check-up last Wednesday."

Emily who was smiling at the Christmas card looked at Spencer, "I keep on thinking about the time I called you a naughty boy when Hotch found out that you lied about being cleared to travel after you got shot."

Spencer chuckled, "Telling Olivia about the time you called me a naughty boy comment made her decide on having our first Christmas card as a married couple state that we've been naughty."

JJ who was already lectured by Hotch about ordering Spencer not to have kids with Olivia when she and Hotch had a moment alone in Wichita, Kansas held back from giving Spencer a hug because of Spencer telling her that he doesn't want her touching him anymore during a team counseling session, "Congratulations, Spence. Henry is going to be so excited when he hears that you and Olivia are expecting twins."

"Thank you," said Spencer.

"As much as I love both Jack and Henry, let's hope that you and Olivia end up having girls because we need some girls in the second generation of this family," said Garcia.

Spencer chuckled, "I hope so too because I want one of the twins to be a girl who looks like Olivia and my niece Abigail."

"Please tell me that I'll get to be a fairy godmother to one of your twins," begged Garcia.

Spencer took a breath, "Olivia has already promised her best friend Marissa that she'll be godmother to both twins," said Spencer before looking at Morgan and Hotch, "When it comes to choosing the twins godfather, Olivia already insisted that Edmund will godfather to the twins since we're already godparents to Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer and I'm not going to argue with my wife when she's pregnant since she knows how to shoot a gun thanks to her brother and late father teaching her how to shoot a gun when she went through a phase of idolizing Annie Oakley." 

Hotch nodded cleared his throat before Morgan, Garcia, or JJ could argue about the choice of godparents, "Reid and Olivia have a right to pick godparents from Olivia's side instead of Reid's side. I believe that it's time we get started on our consults so we can leave at 5 today."

A minute later the team left the conference room so they could get started on the consults they were given to work on at their desks in the bullpen or their own offices.

xxx

Two hours later Spencer, a visiting Olivia, Hotch, Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Garcia were enjoying the onion-free taco lasagna that Olivia made for lunch to celebrate the upcoming births of Spencer's and Olivia's twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope that no one is upset on the choice of godparents because Olivia is allowed to pick godparents from her side and I thought that it would be better for Spencer's and Olivia's unborn twins to share the same godparents.


	15. Code Breaking & Genders Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recent events made me decide to do a big time jump and skip to True Genius because of deciding that everyone needs to know the genders of the Reid twins now instead of waiting a few more weeks. It's January 16th of 2012 at the beginning of the chapter. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and The Bittersweet Science has happened meaning that Strauss is in rehab and Hotch has met Beth. William Reid had moved into one of the two guest bedrooms on the third level since the caregiver that the F.B.I. hired to help take care of Olivia when Spencer is on cases ended up moving into the one bedroom on the lower level.

Spencer, a 19-week pregnant Olivia, William Reid who had moved in on December 23rd, and Olivia's certified caregiver and eventual nanny to the twins 19-year-old Joanna Clark who had become a certified caregiver to help pay her way through premed and medical school while she debates whether she wants to be a foot and ankle surgeon or a gynecologist were eating breakfast.

William thought about his son getting to attend a violent crime seminar to present a paper that he published in a police journal while he was on his sabbatical, "When are you leaving for Chicago today, Spencer?" asked William.

"My teammate Emily and I are catching a flight at 1 P.M.," said Spencer before looking at Olivia who was sitting in her wheelchair because of the weight of her baby bump affecting her ability to walk with her prosthetic leg, "I wish that you would go with me to Chicago to support me."

"Me too, Doc, but my blood pressure is a bit too high for me to fly right now while I just want to make sure that I have everything in order for when the spring semester starts next week Monday," said Olivia before smiling a bit, "But at least we'll be finding out the genders of the twins in a few days.

Joanna smiled, "Have you two figured out names yet or are you two waiting with picking out names until you two find out the genders?" asked Joanna.

Olivia nodded, "We have finalized on two girl names and two boy names while we decided which names we'll do if the twins are boy/girl twins, but we're not sharing the names until Spencer and I reveal the genders of the twins."

"How are you two going to be revealing the genders? Last year my brother and his wife revealed the gender of my nephew through cupcakes," said Joanna.

Olivia smiled, "Spencer and I will create a code for the guests at our party to decipher by solving basic multiplication and division problems and the decrypted code will reveal the names of the twins."

Joanna smiled, "That's brilliant for a couple who both have PhDs in mathematics."

Olivia nodded, "Plus it's creative too because Spencer and I won't be revealing the gender by using the colors pink or blue."

"I know," said Joanna.

Spencer looked at Joanna who had stated during her interview that she's going to remain single until she finishes medical school and pay off her student loan debt so they wouldn't have to worry about her bringing any boyfriends home, "Since you've been here for two weeks, are you finding your little apartment on the lower level comfortable?" asked Spencer.

Joanna nodded as she thought about the dorm she lived in during the fall semester, "Living here is much better than the dorm I was in since it's much quieter here."

Spencer smiled, "Even though I lived with a professor from when I was 12 until I was moved to the dorms the January after my 18th birthday, I know the feeling even though Lafayette barks when he has to go outside or when he wants to eat what we're eating."

Olivia cradled her 19-week baby bump, "Just wait until after the twins are born. We're going to be dealing with two crying babies at once," said Olivia before her eyes went wide, "Oh my gosh."

"What's wrong?" asked Spencer, William, and Joanna in unison.

"The babies kicked," said Olivia before she grabbed hold of her husband's hands and placed them on her bump.

A minute later Spencer was releasing a few tears, "Hi, munchkins. Daddy loves you munchkins so much," said Spencer before looking at his wife, "Even though I freaked out when I felt Abigail, Brayden, Henry, and Baby Spencer kick for the first time, I'm not freaked out this time."

"That's because these twins are yours and not comparing your godchildren to the movie "Alien", Doc," said Olivia.

xxxx

The next day a dejected Spencer who was dealing with not having anyone except the founder of Nanovex approach him after his presentation was packing his go bag in his hotel room when he got Olivia on the phone so he could tell her that he's heading to San Francisco.

"How's the conference?" asked Olivia.

"Barely anyone clapped for me while I ended up meeting the founder of Nanovex who's a child prodigy like us," said Spencer.

Olivia quickly noticed the tone in her husband's voice, "Are you OK?" asked Olivia.

"Meeting the founder of Nanovex is making me wonder if I should have left the F.B.I. when budget cuts were announced instead of taking that sabbatical or I shouldn't have joined the F.B.I. and done something else with my life, Livy," said Spencer.

"You still have a few weeks until you're allowed to decide if you want to resign or not," said Olivia.

"I know," said Spencer.

"Well I got some good news today," said Olivia.

"What's the news?" asked Spencer.

"You know the mathematics paper I recently published?" asked Olivia.

"Yes," said Spencer.

"Even though I've been working at Georgetown University for four months, that article caused me to be offered a tenure," said Olivia.

Spencer smiled despite Olivia not being able to see him, "That's great, Livy."

"I know," said Olivia.

"As much as I want to keep talking to you, I need to get going so I can catch a commercial flight to San Francisco," said Spencer.

"A case?" asked Olivia.

"Seems like the Zodiac killer has started killing people again or there's a copycat," said Spencer.

"At least you'll get to put your code-breaking skills to use," said Olivia.

"I know," said Spencer.

"You better catch your flight to San Francisco so you can make it home in time for my anatomy reveal ultrasound on Friday," said Olivia.

"OK," said Spencer.

"Please stay safe and I love you," said Olivia.

"I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up.

xxxxx

Spencer who was still reeling about meeting the founder of Nanovex while Olivia earned a tenured position approached Hotch and JJ with Emily trailing behind him, "Have any letters or ciphers been received?" asked Spencer.

Hotch looked at Agent Lin as he started to show Spencer the file on the case, "Agent Lin, this is Dr. Reid, Agent Prentiss."

JJ looked at Spencer, "How was the conference?" asked JJ.

"Enlightening," said Spencer dryly.

Emily looked at Agent Lin, "Has the unsub made any contact?" asked Emily.

"The "Chronicle's" website manager received two phone calls this morning. There was just heavy breathing on the other end. Like the phone calls, the Zodiac used to make," said Agent Lin.

"Can I get a physical copy of the online version of today's paper?" asked Spencer.

A shocked Agent Lin looked at Spencer, "You want a printout of the online version?" asked Agent Lin.

"Yeah. With all the comments printed out as well, if possible, thanks," said Spencer before walking away to look at the car.

JJ looked at Agent Lin, "Don't ask."

Spencer who was studying the car spoke up, "It's not the real Zodiac."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Emily.

Spencer thought about the gut feelings he occasionally have, "I just know it. Sometimes I can't really explain it."

xxxxx

Spencer walked to the entrance of the San Francisco Field Office with a few of his teammates and Agent Lin only to find a man speaking to the press.

"Oh. The dates match. When Zodiac stopped killing, my cousin was put in a mental hospital in Mexico. He was released two months ago," said a man excitably.

"Do you have anything more specific?" asked the reporter.

"He was working on a production of "The Mikado" in '68. The Zodiac talked about "The Mikado" in a letter," said the local.

Spencer who had enough of the attention-seeking local approached the man and the reporter, "Excuse me. I'm Dr. Reid with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Was your cousin by chance a fan of Wagner?" asked Spencer.

The local nodded.

"Because a CD of the "Tragic Overture" was sent to the police this morning," said Spencer.

The local smiled, "He loved Wagner, especially the "Tragic Overture." It's him. Oh, yeah."

Spencer inwardly smirked, "Well, for the record, a CD was not sent to the police this morning, and the "Tragic Overture" was written by Brahms, not Wagner, so luckily, I guess it's not your cousin," said Spencer as he watched the local become dejected before he focused on the camera as he spoke firmly, "The FBI would greatly appreciate it if people would stop making false claims to get their 15 minutes of fame. Thank you. Thank you very much," said Spencer before he walked up the stairs and entered the field office before dealing with comments from Hotch and JJ about getting him to speak to the press more often.

xxxx

A few minutes later in Washington D.C., Olivia was sitting in the study that she shared with her husband replying to an email from one of her students who told her that she wouldn't be in class the got a new email from a now-retired Professor Donaldson.

I JUST SAW YOUR HUSBAND ON LIVE TV AND I THOUGHT THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR HUSBAND SPEAK TO A LOCAL IN FRONT OF THE PRESS.

Olivia smiled as she started to play the video and she burst out laughing as she watched her husband leave enough rope for the local to embarrass himself to the city of San Francisco and the state of California before Spencer requested that people stop trying to claim their 15-minutes of fame as she cradled her 19-week baby bump, "That was your daddy."

Joanna rushed into the room, "What's so funny, Olivia?" asked Joanna.

Olivia nodded, "I was just sent a video of my husband bringing down an attention-speaking local in front of the press."

Joanna grinned, "Please play the video for me."

Olivia nodded as she played the video.

When the video was over, a laughing Joanna looked at Olivia who was laughing while tears streamed down her face, "Spencer is something else when he's pissed off."

A laughing Olivia nodded, "He sure is," said Olivia before her eyes went wide as she looked down at her skirt that was soaked with urine, "I ended up losing control of my bladder from laughing so hard. My sister-in-law Danielle told me that this would happen."

Joanna nodded, "It's OK, Olivia. Do you want to take a bath or a shower?" asked Joanna.

"How about a bubble bath," said Olivia.

"Then let's head upstairs so you can take a bubble bath," said Joanna.

Olivia nodded as she wheeled herself out of the study and headed to the stairs where the stair-lift that had a platform that fits her wheelchair was waiting for her and wheeled herself onto the platform. After Joanna made sure that the breaks on Olivia's wheelchair were locked, Olivia pressed the button to start the lift while Joanna followed her upstairs.

xxxx

Ten minutes later Olivia was taking a nice long bubble bath while Joanna cleaned Olivia's wheelchair and took care of some cleaning that needed to be done.

xxxx

An hour later in San Francisco, Spencer was already dealing with getting messages from some relatives and friends about seeing him calling out the attention-seeking local and loved it was going through the messages when Hotch approached him.

"Reid, how's it going?" asked Hotch.

"Computers slow me down, so I prefer paper, but I wasn't expecting all these comments. Where do people find the time?" asked Spencer to himself before he circled an email and looked at Hotch, "I think I just found a cipher from the unsub. The symbols buried in the spam are the same ones the Zodiac used in his first message back in 1969."

"What does it say?" asked Hotch.

Spencer used his mind to decode the cipher as he looked at Hotch, ""Killing is the most fun you can have 98 minutes below the horizon in magic city with President Garfield. Happy hunting."," recited Spencer before looking at Hotch who was about to dial Garcia and spoke quickly, "Magic city refers to Birmingham, Alabama, sunset should be at 6:22 PM here tonight meaning that 98 minutes there will be 8 PM, and there's a statue of President Garfield in Golden Gate Park."

"Are you positive?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

A few minutes later Spencer's cell phone rang causing him to see that it was Olivia calling, "Hi, Livy."

"I'm going to be heading to bed soon, but I wanted to let you know that Professor Donaldson sent me the video of you speaking to the press. I hope you know that you were extremely sexy taking that attention-seeking local down a few pegs, Doc," purred Olivia.

Spencer shifted in his seat, "As much as I want to talk about me confronting that local, I'm currently at the field office right now, Livy."

"Sorry, Doc," said Olivia.

"It's OK," said Spencer before he and Olivia chatted about their day for a bit before Olivia decided that it was time to get some sleep.

xxx

Later on that night, Spencer was in his hotel room when he texted Olivia.

I JUST GOT SETTLED INTO MY HOTEL ROOM. EVEN THOUGH IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT IN DC, ARE YOU AWAKE? ~ SR

At that moment a Skype call was alerted on his phone causing him to accept to see Olivia's face, "I didn't think that you would respond to me right away."

Olivia smirked, "Despite how late it is, I thought that we could have some phone sex because I've been so turned on after watching that video of you confronting that local over 20 times."

Spencer felt his pants tighten up, "Even though I had a long day, I could spare 30 minutes while I should be able to keep it down."

A minute later Spencer and Olivia were having phone sex while Spencer made sure to not be too loud so he would wake up guests in the hotel rooms next to him, above him, or below him before he took a shower to clean himself up.

cccc

The next morning Spencer who had backed out on giving the profile was going through the emails in a coffee shop going through the emails when Emily entered the coffee shop and sat across from him.

"Hey. Are you gonna tell me what's up?" asked Emily.

After Spencer stayed silent, Emily thought about how Spencer was still adjusting to having her back in his life again while it was understandable that he was still angry over everything that happened and placed distance between himself and the rest of the team, "Reid, it's me."

Spencer clicked his pen and set it down on the table and looked at Emily, "Do you ever wonder if you lived up to expectations?" asked Spencer softly.

Emily smiled, "Mm... I beat them. I figured I'd be a bored socialite by 25."

"I thought I'd cure schizophrenia by the time I was 25," said Spencer before sighing, "You know, when I was a kid, people told me that I could do anything."

Emily realized what Spencer was thinking about, "You're afraid you've let people down?" asked Emily.

Spencer shook his head, "No, I'm afraid I've let myself down."

Emily sighed as she thought about Spencer's mother dealing with schizophrenia, "By not curing schizophrenia?" asked Emily.

"No, just because... I don't know why I'm in the FBI," sighed Spencer.

"I see. You're a genius, but you have the same job as me, Morgan, JJ," said Emily.

"Yeah, exactly," said Spencer before realizing his own blunder, "No, that's not what I'm saying. It's just sometimes- sometimes I kind of get this feeling like- like maybe I should have done something more with my life."

Emily thought about Spencer being 29 when her death was faked, "How old are you? 29."

Spencer took a breath, "I'm 30."

Emily's eyes went wide, "No way. We missed your birthday?" asked Emily.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

"Well why didn't you tell us?" asked Emily before thinking about how her faked death had almost ruined Spencer's life making it understandable that he's interacting with the team outside of work less, "The fact of the matter is you're young, married to the love of your life, while you're also about to become a father to our first two children. There's still time."

Spencer thought about one of his favorite scientists, "By the time Nicola Tesla was 30, he'd already invented the induction motor."

"You know what? You might be right. You don't hear that much about child prodigies once they grow up. In fact, most of them turn out average," said Emily.

Spencer chuckled as he smiled, "That's not true. Are you trying reverse psychology with me?" asked Spencer.

"I'm just telling it like it is," said Emily before she grabbed the papers that Spencer was writing on earlier.

A confused Spencer looked at Emily, "What are you doing?" asked Spencer.

Emily clicked the pen that Spencer was using, "Well, you just told me yourself you're washed up. I should take a look at this," said Emily as she started to write on top of the cipher that Spencer was writing on.

"That's not what I'm saying. It's-seriously, what are you doing?" asked Spencer.

Emily looked at Spencer as she started to write on one of the papers, "I'm just looking to see what you missed."

"Don't do-you're gonna actually mess it up. Emily- give it back," said Spencer as he grabbed the pen and papers from Emily and looked at it as his mind caused him to see another cipher, "Wait a minute, that's it. The real code is in the words," said Spencer as he grabbed his pen and started to write on it as he talked, ""China Weekly Post, " page F-4."

Emily smiled as she called Hotch and told him that Spencer found something.

After getting off the phone, Emily looked at Spencer, "Please tell me that Olivia remembered your birthday and made it special."

Spencer nodded, "Even though my parents weren't able to make it out to D.C. that weekend, Olivia made sure that I had the best day ever while the congregation threw me a little party after Mass."

Emily nodded, "That's good."

xxxx

A short while later Spencer was walking in step with Hotch as he rambled about the cipher he ended up cracking, "The spam had to be converted from matrix code to binary code, then switched to base 8 before being translated back into letters. I can go into more detail if you want," said Spencer.

"Uh, no. How smart would a person have to be to write code like that?" asked Hotch.

"Beyond smart. Profoundly gifted. An I.Q. Of at least 160," said Spencer.

"That changes the profile, then," said Hotch.

"The unsub could still hold a menial or low-level job. Many believe that beyond an I.Q. of 120, success is determined by other factors," said Spencer before he found the newspaper they needed while Hotch called Garcia.

xxxxx

Spencer was already in his hiding place as he waited for Caleb Rossmore or Harvey Morell who were both child prodigies and chess masters to confess about Robbie Shaw because of Hotch and Morgan agreeing that he should be the one to talk down Caleb.

"And the police won't catch us because the murders were perfect. Just like Robbie Shaw," said Caleb.

At that moment Spencer decided to get out of his hiding place as he pointed his revolver at Caleb, "Not really," said Spencer causing Harvey to put his hands up while Caleb pointed his gun at him, "If they were perfect, I probably wouldn't be here right now," said Spencer calmly as he slowly walked closer to Caleb, Harvey, and Marisa.

Harvey looked at Spencer, "I had nothing to do with this," said Harvey while Caleb looked at him in shock.

Spencer looked at Caleb as he spoke with a smooth and confident voice, "You really went out of your way to impress Harvey, Caleb. The murders, the chess game, all designed to entice him."

"Yes," said Harvey while he pointed at Caleb, "He is pathological,"

Caleb glared at Harvey.

Spencer looked at Caleb, "I don't know if Harvey's the best friend in the world to be selling you out like that. I mean, after you killed Robbie Shaw together, you probably thought that you guys had an unbreakable bond."

Harvey pointed at Caleb, "He murdered Robbie by himself."

Caleb scoffed as he looked at Harvey, "When we took him into the woods and strangled him... I've never seen you so exhilarated. The look on your face, you can't deny that, Harvey."

Spencer lowered his revolver slightly, "But afterwards, something changed. You two grew apart."

Harvey realized that the agent in front of him was right as he protested loudly, "I wasn't there."

Caleb looked at the man that he thought was his best friend as he cried, "You pulled away from me. Do you know how much that hurt? I would have done anything for you, Harvey. I looked up to you."

Spencer looked at Harvey as he realized that Harvey wouldn't have the chance of getting married and starting a family like he was able to have, "You know what I think, Harvey? I think killing Robbie Shaw was your idea."

"No," said Harvey loudly.

Caleb looked at Harvey, "You chose him because his brother used to pick on you in school."

Spencer looked at Harvey, "You're successful, you're charismatic, you're dominant, which means that you most likely made the plans and Caleb followed them," said Spencer as he thought about the need to find Robbie's body so Robbie Shaw's family could have some closure and give Robbie a proper burial, "Let me ask you this- where did you hide the body?" asked Spencer.

"Listen to me-," said Harvey before Spencer interrupted him.

"If I was gonna kill somebody and hide a body, I think I would probably use sulfuric acid. Especially if my father was a chemistry teacher. Right, Caleb?" asked Spencer.

Harvey looked at Caleb, "Caleb... Don't listen to him. He's trying to trick us."

Spencer looked at Caleb and realized that Caleb was starting to cry, "Do you trust him, Caleb?" asked Spencer.

Harvey looked at his former best friend, "Caleb! Hey, Caleb!" shouted Harvey causing Caleb to look at him, "Whatever happens, we'll protect each other."

Spencer thought about what he learned about Harvey, "Oh, I'm sure that he'll protect you if he's around," said Spencer causing Caleb to look at him, "I mean, he is moving to Shanghai in a couple of months. He put the transfer in about a year ago," said Spencer before he noticed a surprised look on Caleb's face, "Did you did your good friend Harvey not tell you about that? Well, I'm sure that he'll send you a postcard."

Harvey looked at his friend, "I was going to tell you."

Caleb looked at his former best friend as he made his decision to confess about Robbie's remains, "Robbie's bones are buried in his backyard," said Caleb as he dropped his gun.

Spencer holstered his revolver while Morgan grabbed Caleb.

"Let's go," said Morgan before he led Caleb away.

As soon as Caleb was led away, Spencer walked over to Marisa and ungagged her,, and led her away while Hotch arrested Harvey.

xxxx

Spencer entered his and Olivia's bedroom and smiled when he found his wife wheeling herself out of the bathroom in her wheelchair, "I'm glad that I made it home in time for your doctor appointment in five hours."

Olivia smiled, "Me too."

Spencer thought about his mother flying in the day before since his mother wanted to attend the anatomy reveal ultrasound, "How's my mom doing?" asked Spencer.

Olivia smiled, "She's been lucid the entire time and is taking her medication for your father and me."

"Where is she sleeping right now?" asked Spencer.

"She decided to share a bed with your father since they told us that they're still married to each other," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded before looking at the alarm clock and noticed that it was 4 A.M., "Since we have five hours before your appointment, we should get some more sleep."

Olivia shook her head, "No."

"Why?" asked Spencer.

Olivia gave her husband a wicked smile, "I'm still horny after watching that video of you dealing with that attention-seeking local."

Spencer shook his head as he locked his and Olivia's bedroom door before he undressed and helped his wife move from her wheelchair to their bed before they spent an hour having sex.

xxxx

Five hours later at 9 A.M., Spencer, Olivia, Diana, and William were sitting in Dr. Carter's office when Dr. Carter who was performing an ultrasound on a still 19-week pregnant Olivia smiled at Spencer, Olivia, Diana, and William, "The genders are visible, do you two want me to tell you four?" asked Dr. Carter.

Olivia nodded, "We want to know so I can create a multiplication and division code for the guests to decrypt at tomorrow's gender reveal party."

"Just don't have the answer reveal boy or girl at the end because that would give away the gender quickly," said Dr. Carter.

Spencer nodded, "We already agreed that we'll reveal the names we finalized on instead of saying that we're having a boy or a girl in the code we created."

Dr. Carter smiled, "Now that's going to be one of the most cutest and creative ways to reveal the gender."

"Can you please tell us because I really need to urinate," grumbled Olivia.

Dr. Carter smiled, "What do you see on the monitor, Spencer?" asked Dr. Carter.

Spencer studied the monitor for a minute before smiling at his wife and mother, "We were right about the twins being girls."

Olivia yanked her husband by the tie and pulled her husband into a kiss while Diana and William both hugged each other at the idea of having two beautiful granddaughters.

When they were done celebrating, Spencer looked at his wife and parents, "Even though I'm still upset about being lied to, the case I just worked on and my soon to be born daughters made me realize that I need to continue making this country a safer place for my daughters by putting one unsub away at a time."

Olivia beamed at her husband, "I support your decision, Doc."

xxxx

Over an hour later, Spencer exited the elevator with a cup of takeout coffee exited the elevator only to find Emily waiting for him.

"Hey, Reid. Um, Hotch wants to talk to you," said Emily.

Spencer let out a soft groan.

"What's wrong?" asked Emily.

"He probably wants to talk to me about why I've been kind of weird lately even though he already knows that I'm scared and nervous about fatherhood," said Spencer as he and Emily started to head to the conference room.

"You are making a difference, you know, one person at a time," said Emily.

Spencer nodded, "Thank you. You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about why I stayed after Gideon left, why I didn't take any of those other offers."

"Nothing is accidental," said Emily.

"And I realized, I don't know, there's just something incredibly right about being here, with you guys," said Spencer.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Otherwise, this would have been really awkward," said Emily as they reached the closed door.

Spencer gave Emily a confused look, "What would have been really awkward?" asked Spencer.

At that moment Emily opened the door to the conference room causing Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, Garcia, and JJ cheering surprise or happy birthday causing him to reluctantly allow himself to be hugged by each of his teammates while Rossi kissed him on both of his cheeks before he had to blow out the candles on the cake that Garcia made for him.

xxxx

After everyone had a piece of cake and Spencer had opened his gifts that ended up being packages of diapers for when the twins were born, new ties, new socks, books that Spencer haven't had a chance to read yet, and a few other gifts Garcia looked at Spencer, "What did you wish for?" asked Garcia.

Spencer smiled a bit, "That you guys will attend the gender reveal party that Olivia and I are throwing tomorrow at Georgetown University."

Garcia bounced on her heels, "You two found out the genders?" asked Garcia.

Spencer nodded, "My mom who flew out for the anatomy ultrasound, my father, Olivia, and I found out the gender two hours ago."

"Please tell us so I can start shopping tonight," begged Garcia.

"Or I can gather Henry's old clothes for you and Olivia," said JJ.

Spencer smiled as he shook his head, "You guys can wait until tomorrow to find out."

Hotch gave Garcia a firm look, "That means no hacking into Olivia's medical records."

Garcia nodded, "I understand."

"Will your mom be at the gender reveal party?" asked Emily.

Spencer shook his head, "She won't be since she occasionally believes that you're still dead. So instead of attending the party, she's going to be giving her own guest lecture to some 15th-century literature students and some literature professors who have asked me about my mom guest lecturing for them while my father chaperones them."

xxxx

The next afternoon Spencer and a wheelchair-bound Olivia smiled as they passed a piece of paper to all of their guests who were gathered in the lecture hall that Olivia used at Georgetown University.

Morgan looked at his paper that had 37 multiplication or division problems while there was an answer key had a letter next to a number, "After the case we just had, you two decided to give us a code to decrypt?" asked Morgan.

Olivia nodded as she spoke into the mic that she had attached to herself so everyone in the lecture hall could use, "We planned on doing a gender reveal like this for weeks. The answers to these math problems will spell out the twins' names."

"Just be glad that we're having you guys doing basic multiplication and division problems instead of doing honors advanced calculus and linear algebra problems that only Olivia, I, and probably a few other people can solve to find out the names for the twins," said Spencer before smiling at Jack, "Since you're only in the first-grade, you get addition and subtraction problems to solve."

"Thank you, Uncle Spencer and Aunt Olivia," said Jack.

Olivia looked at their guests as she held up a basket, "Please give me your cell phones and tablets."

Garcia looked at Olivia, "Why?" asked Garcia.

One of Olivia's students Rachel looked at Garcia, "Olivia never lets us use a calculator during her tests and exams last semester."

Olivia nodded, "Aside from a few kids being in the room, we're all adults and should remember the basic multiplication problems or I'll be seeing if it's possible for everyone who can't solve more than 90% of these problems correctly repeat the third-grade like Billy Madison did in the movie "Billy Madison"," said Olivia.

Laughter erupted through the hall while a basket to collect phones was passed around while Spencer made sure that his teammates handed in all their phones since it was common for them to have a Bureau issued cell phone for work calls and a personal cell phone.

After Spencer and Olivia made sure that everyone turned in their cell phones or tablets, Spencer looked at his and Olivia's guests, "We're giving you guys one minute to complete the puzzle like the mad minutes we all did in elementary school, so please lift up your pencils now."

A second later Edmund, Danielle, Abigail, Brayden, Aunt Ethel, Uncle Gordon, Marissa, Will, Hotch, Rossi, Emily, Garcia, JJ, Morgan, Jack, Ethan who came up from New Orleans, Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss who pretended that her daughter Emily didn't exist, Katrina and Kenneth Donaldson who had flew in from Pasadena, Alex Blake, Joanna, Grant Anderson, Gina Sharp, Kevin, Dr. Lance Sweets, other F.B.I. agents that Spencer had become friends with from other units he occasionally consults for, some professors that Olivia got to know the past few months, and over 30 of Olivia's students who decided to come to the gender reveal party for the chance of free food started to solve the math problems that revealed that Spencer and Olivia were having twin girls named Piper Diana Reid and Serena Elizabeth Reid causing a lot of guests to scream excitement and celebrate in the cafeteria where food and desserts that were catered for the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope that everyone is excited about Spencer and Olivia having twin girls while you guys approve the names. They didn't name their daughter Serena after Professor Katrina Donaldson because of Marissa's hometown being New Orleans, Louisiana and she had lost friends and family members that she left behind to Hurricane Katrina.


	16. New Friend & Struggling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cameo appearance from two characters from a show I'm binge-watching since these two characters were expecting a baby girl at the same time I have it that Spencer and Olivia are expecting even though these two characters' daughter will be less than two months older than Piper and Serena.
> 
> Also, I hope you reader loves the appearance of a certain season eight character that starts a friendship with Olivia and Marissa in this chapter.

Spencer and a wheelchair-bound Olivia had just grabbed themselves some tea or coffee had just answered some questions about Olivia's pregnancy from another elderly couple when Rossi who sat with them during Mass joined them.

"How are you doing, Olivia?" asked Rossi.

Olivia who was sitting in her wheelchair smiled, "Even though the weight of Piper and Serena have caused me to become wheelchair-bound or slowly walk around with the aid of my crutches, I'm doing great."

"That's good," said Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "I'm just glad that we had modifications made to make the house wheelchair assessable for Olivia before we moved in."

"I've been meaning to ask, but where did you two come up with the name Serena?" asked Rossi.

"Even though my parents named me after Saint Olivia Palermo and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal when I was born, I chose Serena as my confirmation name when I was 14," said Olivia.

"Have you figured out which twin will be named Piper and which twin will be named Serena yet?" asked Rossi.

Spencer shook his head, "We're going to wait until after our daughters are born so we can determine which one looks like a Piper while which one looks like a Serena."

"Are Piper and Serena going to be identical or fraternal?" asked Rossi.

"They're going to be fraternal which I'm glad about because there's a chance that both girls are going to be geniuses like Spencer and me and switch places and try to fool everyone if they ended up being identical."

"If both girls end up inheriting their father's eyes, we're all going to be in so much trouble," said Rossi.

Olivia laughed, "Oh I know. I instantly had a crush on Spencer as soon as I noticed his eyes while he gave me a puppy-dog eye look when he first asked me out and eventually asked me to marry him."

At that moment Abigail and Brayden walked over to them.

"Can we go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum now?" asked Brayden.

"Can we also eat lunch there too?" asked Abigail.

Olivia smiled, "Yes."

Rossi looked at Abigail and Brayden as he thought about seeing the pattern of Abigail and Brayden leaving the church with Spencer and Olivia, "You two spending the afternoon with your aunt and uncle again?" asked Rossi.

Abigail nodded, "Mom and dad use this time to get any housework done while our little brother naps."

Danielle nodded as she walked over with baby Spencer who was a day away from turning five-months-old, "You are correct, Abigail."

Spencer took his youngest nephew from his sister-in-law, "Are you going to sleep so your mommy and daddy can get some household chores done since you kept them from working last week?" asked Spencer.

Baby Spencer smiled and giggled at his uncle before he started to babble a bit.

"Is that so?" asked Spencer as he tickled his youngest nephew's belly.

Baby Spencer giggled.

Olivia smiled, "I just love seeing you being an uncle to our niece and nephews, so I'm excited to watch you interact with our daughters, Spencer."

Abigail nodded, "Seeing you interact with my baby brother helps me know that you're going to be great with my cousins," said Abigail before looking at her aunt and uncle, "Since Brayden and I have started taking babysitting classes at the American Red Cross so we're prepared to take care of our little brother when mom and dad are ready to leave us home alone with Baby Spencer so they don't have to load us up in the car, are you two going to let Brayden and me be Piper and Serena's babysitters after they're born too?" asked Abigail.

"Yes, but don't forget that Piper's and Serena's godmother, your parents, my father, your aunt's caretaker Joanna, and my teammates are also fighting over getting to babysit Piper and Serena too," said Spencer.

"I know because you and Aunt Olivia aren't going to be letting Brayden and me babysit Piper and Serena on school nights," said Abigail.

"Exactly, Abby," said Olivia.

Brayden looked at his aunt and uncle, "Even though I love my baby brother, baby Spencer and I are going to need some male cousins from you two too."

Olivia chuckled as she rubbed her baby bump, "Just let me finish carrying Piper and Serena and recover from giving birth for a few months before your uncle Spencer and I try to give Piper and Serena a little brother, Brayden."

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden were getting into Olivia's car to head to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum where they would eat lunch before touring the museum while William chose to head out to lunch with a few lawyers he met the past few weeks.

cccc

The next morning Spencer was getting himself some coffee when Garcia walked over to him, "Morning, Garcia," said Spencer.

Garcia smiled, "I'm so excited about you and Olivia expecting twin girls, boy wonder."

Spencer nodded, "Livy and I are both excited too since we agreed to talk about what we would name our children if we got married and had children a few months before Gideon recruited me causing us to agree to mutually break up to follow our post-college dreams."

"Speaking of Gideon, do you want me to track him down so you can tell him that you got married to Olivia and will be holding twin girls in May?" asked Garcia.

Spencer sighed, "During my sabbatical, I dropped off an invitation to the wedding at his cabin and he wasn't there even though it has been empty for years."

"Since I didn't see him at the wedding, do you know if he got the invitation?" asked Garcia.

Spencer shook his head, "I didn't see him when I was standing, sitting, or kneeling at the altar," said Spencer before taking a breath, "Even though I haven't heard from him in four years and three months, I'm planning on making another trip to the cabin when I'm on paternity leave to drop off the birth announcement."

"I understand, but you can always ask me to find his phone number so you can call him," said Garcia.

"I know that Gideon finding out that I finally married my college sweetheart and the upcoming births of Piper and Serena might help restore his belief of happy endings, but I don't want to upset him if he hasn't found his own happy ending yet," said Spencer.

"Even though you have a good reason why not to ask me to track him down, just let me know if you change your mind," said Garcia.

"I promise," said Spencer before walking away.

cccc

Later on that evening, Spencer helped Olivia get out of her wheelchair and settle onto the floor of the room that the Lamaze class that they signed up for was taking place in, "Do you want your leg on or off, Livy?" asked Spencer.

"Off please," said Olivia.

Spencer nodded as he pulled up his wife's pants leg and gently removed her prosthetic leg, "Better?" asked Spencer.

"Was stumpy swollen?" asked Olivia.

Spencer then removed the sock and looked at Olivia's stump, "Yes."

"At least I see my prosthesis tomorrow for my monthly appointment," said Olivia before noticing that a woman with brown hair and blue eyes staring at her stump while her partner covered her mouth with her hand causing her to recognize Dr. Temperance Brennan and Agent Seeley Booth who attended hers and Spencer's wedding as she snapped, "Since I know that you work with skeletons and you've been curious about why I've was wheelchair-bound when you and Seeley attended the gender reveal party on Saturday, I was bitten by a Mojave rattlesnake when I went on a whitewater rafting camping trip through the Grand Canyon when I was 17. A transtibial amputation had to be done to save my life. So please stop staring, Dr. Brennan."

"I'm sorry for staring. I just get curious when it comes to deformities and injuries that affect our skeletons," said Dr. Brennan.

Agent Booth looked at Spencer, "Please tell Agent Hotchner that I said hello."

"I will, Agent Booth," said Spencer.

At that moment a woman with titan colored hair and blue eyes sat down next to Spencer and Olivia while a man with dark hair settled down behind her studied Spencer for a moment before her eyes went wide as she looked at Spencer, "Aren't you the Dr. Spencer Reid who went viral for calling out that attention-seeking local on the news in San Francisco last week?" asked the woman.

Spencer nodded, "Yes I am."

"I'm Dr. Maeve Donovan and this is my husband Robert Putnam. I'm a geneticist at Mendel University and I had just sent you a compliment on your recent article in the American Journal of Psychology yesterday," said Maeve.

"I'll be looking forward to reading it," said Spencer before gesturing to Olivia, "This is my wife Dr. Olivia Reid. She's a mathematics professor at Georgetown University."

"Even though I go by my married name, I publish articles with my maiden name Dr. Olivia Hartford because of earning my Ph. D. in mathematics and my Bachelors in education when I was still a Hartford," said Olivia.

Maeve smiled at Olivia, "Even though I focus on science, I have read your articles on mathematics, theoretical physics, and statistical physics."

"I remember getting compliments from you," said Olivia before looking at Maeve's baby bump, "Do you know what you're having yet, Dr. Donovan?" asked Olivia.

Maeve nodded, "A daughter we named Audrey Putnam. What about you?" asked Maeve.

Olivia smiled, "Spencer and I are having twin girls named Piper and Serena. Maybe we can get together in the future so our daughters can have playdates."

"I'd like that because all my coworkers are old enough to be my father while I prefer staying home with my microscope," said Maeve.

Olivia grinned, "Even though my best friend Marissa moved out here with me since I was the only person she had left until she reunited with her old neighbor who's the father of my husband's godson at Spencer's and my wedding, Marissa and I are still trying to make more friends with other women around our age and I find it hard to connect with my husband's female colleagues while Marissa is staying away from the mother of Spencer's godson."

Before Maeve could respond, the Lamaze instructor started to speak.

xxxx

After Lamaze class was over, Spencer, Olivia, Maeve, and Robert were at a nearby diner for a late dinner when Maeve looked between Spencer and Olivia, "How long have you two known each other?" asked Maeve.

"15 years, five months, and 17 days," said Spencer and Olivia in unison.

"How long were you two married to each other? Maeve and I have been married to each other for a year," said Bobby.

"169 days," said Olivia before she and Spencer talked about how they met, their friendship, when they started dating, their mutual breakup to follow their post-college dreams, their marriage pact, when they reunited, Spencer's marriage proposal, and their wedding.

xxxx

When they were done talking, Maeve was grinning, "I take it that you two know the 1997 romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding?" even though you two actually married each other unlike Julianne and Michael ended up breaking their pact because of Michael falling in love with Kimberly?" asked Maeve.

Olivia nodded with a huge smile on her face, "That movie is the reason why Spencer and I made a marriage pact even though one of Spencer's coworkers who used to be his best friend was a lot like Julianne and tried to break Spencer and me up by breaking up with her boyfriend of three years who was also the father of my husband's three-year-old godson before telling Spencer that she's in love with him only for Spencer to turn her down while my mother-in-law gave her some threats about what she'll do if she ruins Spencer's happiness with me," said Olivia before thinking about her next movie night with Marissa, "This Friday, Marissa and I who are big fans of romantic comedies from the 1990s are going to be getting together to watch "10 Things I Hate About You" while Spencer will be doing something with his father if he's not on a case, so why don't you join Marissa and me?" asked Olivia.

"Are you sure about me intruding on yours and your friend Marissa's girls' night when we just met?" asked Maeve.

Olivia quickly pulled out her phone and sent Marissa a Skype call and a few seconds later Marissa's face appeared.

"Shouldn't you have called me 30 minutes ago when Lamaze class ended to tell me how your first Lamaze class went, Olivia?" asked Marissa.

"Blame your goddaughters for making me forget calling you while Spencer and I are currently having a late dinner with a couple who insisted that we go out for a meal together," said Olivia.

"It's OK, Olivia," said Marissa.

"Our new friend Maeve admitted that she's a big fan of romantic comedies from the 1990s when we told her that the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" inspired Spencer and me to make a marriage pact when we broke up to follow our post-college dreams," said Olivia.

Marissa grinned, "Please invite her since we agreed that we needed to make more friends with women our age and aren't connected to your husband's or my boyfriend's jobs at the F.B.I. or Metro Police Department since my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend is the mother of your husband's godson."

Olivia showed Maeve her phone, "Maeve, please meet my friend Marissa Lapointe. She's the owner of Marissa's Flower Gallery on Connecticut Avenue and uses a greenhouse to grow her own flowers to sell. Marissa, this is Dr. Maeve Donovan and she's a geneticist at Mendel University."

"It's nice to meet you, Marissa. Are you OK if I intrude on yours and Olivia's girl's night?" asked Maeve.

Marissa shook her head, "Not at all, Maeve. Our movie night is at Olivia's house this time, so she's allowed to invite whoever she wants."

"Then I appreciate the invitation," said Maeve.

Olivia shifted in her wheelchair, "As much as I want to keep on talking, Marissa, I really need to go since your goddaughters are kicking my bladder."

"Then call me between your two classes tomorrow, honey," said Marissa.

"I will," said Olivia before signing off and putting her phone into her purse before wheeling off to the lady's room.

Maeve looked at Spencer, "Will Olivia need help getting on and off the toilet?" asked Maeve.

"She has her crutches on the back of her wheelchair to help her out," said Spencer.

"OK," said Maeve as she got up to use the bathroom too.

Spencer looked at Bobby, "Sorry that you're becoming a wheel here."

"It's OK. Maeve has been talking about wanting to meet with you for a few months now and even though I have shown Maeve a life outside of her research she needs friends who are around her age and understands her intelligence levels," said Bobby.

"What do you do for work?" asked Spencer.

"I work as a landscaper," said Bobby.

Spencer nodded, "Olivia and I have a big backyard and we're planning on making some changes to it this spring and summer with a new fence, flower gardens, and a vegetable garden."

"Would you like me to look at your yard in a few months?" asked Bobby.

"That would be nice," said Spencer before he focused on the Washington Wizards game that was playing on TV.

"You like basketball?" asked Bobby.

Spencer nodded, "While I was attending CalTech, I ended up playing on the basketball team at the Polytechnic School since I was required to take gym and a few electives at the Polytechnic school to interact with other teenagers my age while I attended CalTech as a minor," said Spencer before he and Bobby started to talk about basketball.

xxxx

15 minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Maeve, and Bobby were eating their dinner when Spencer felt a pain in his head causing him to close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose as he groaned.

Olivia quickly heard her husband's groan, "Spencer?" asked Olivia.

Maeve gave Spencer a concerned look, "Are you OK?" asked Maeve.

"Just one of the many migraines I've been dealing with for over a year," said Spencer.

"Have you seen a doctor?" asked Maeve.

"A couple and I even took a 16-week-long sabbatical from work last year so I wouldn't have to worry about my job when Livy and I were busy planning our wedding, not miss the wedding, and then enjoy married life. I managed to only have two migraines during my sabbatical," said Spencer.

Olivia looked at Maeve, "My mother-in-law has paranoid schizophrenia and Spencer has been told that he doesn't have schizophrenia and that his migraines have been induced by stress. He's reluctant to take pain medication that his neurologist tried to prescribe him even though I managed to get him to reduce his caffeine intake, eat healthier, exercise, and sleep more when he's home between cases."

Maeve looked at Spencer, "Why don't you send your latest MRI scans to me at Mendel University so I can take a look at them and figure out some medications you can take."

"Are you sure?" asked Spencer.

"I might be able to see something that your neurologist could have missed while I can figure out a treatment plan for you before I give birth to Audrey in 15 weeks," said Maeve before thinking about Olivia telling her that she's supposed to have a planned c-section in about 18 weeks and before you and Olivia start dealing with sleepless nights that consist of feedings and diaper changes in 18 weeks or less since I know that twins can be born earlier."

"Spencer and I will both appreciate your help, Maeve," said Olivia.

xxxx

Later on that week, Spencer who had came home from Houston that morning had just sent an email to Rossi's publisher who had agreed to publish the book he spent his sabbatical working on when he heard the doorbell rang causing him to get up so Olivia, Marissa, Joanna, and Maeve won't have to pause whatever romantic comedy movie they were watching only to find Emily at the door.

"I know that I didn't call ahead, but I'm struggling about the torture that Doyle inflicted on me and aside from Hotch I need to talk to someone who had survived being tortured at the hands of their own torturer instead of being a sounding board to you when you're struggling with something since my return," said Emily.

"I take it that Hotch had called you out for overcompensating on regaining relationships with everyone since your return?" asked Spencer.

Emily nodded, "He did, but how did you know?" asked Emily.

"While you're in therapy, Hotch pulls the rest of the team and me aside for ten minutes to see how we're doing while you're faked death is always talked about during my weekly therapy appointments with Dr. Sweets who reminded me that Dr. Brennan was upset when Agent Booth's death was faked too," said Spencer.

Emily thought about what she heard through the grapevine, "And now Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth are expecting a baby girl who will be a month or two older than your daughters."

Olivia who was in her pajamas and slowly walked into the foyer with the aid of her crutches, "Luckily Dr. Brennan apologized to me when I told her that I lost part of my leg to a rattlesnake bite after Lamaze class."

"Why are you in your pajamas and your husband is not?" asked Emily.

"Marissa and I are having a slumber party that deals with 1990s romantic comedies with my caretaker Joanna and Spencer's and my new friend Maeve that we met at Lamaze class," said Olivia.

"Sounds like fun," said Emily.

Olivia nodded, "I know that you, Penelope, and Jennifer like to go out drinking during a ladies night out to find a date, but Marissa and I prefer to have movie nights that don’t include alcohol because of Marissa being allergic to alcoholic beverages.” 

"So that means that you won't be taking Salsa dancing lessons with Garcia, JJ, and me in a month?" asked Emily.

Olivia shook her head, "Even though Spencer and I have taken ballroom dance classes together when we started dating, the weight of Piper and Serena are affecting my balance and it's kind of hard to dance with my husband with my enormous baby bump," said Olivia before she hobbled off to the bathroom.

Spencer called after his wife, "YOU'RE STILL BEAUTIFUL NO MATTER WHAT, LIVY!" called out Spencer before looking at Emily, "Do you want a mug of tea, water, or hot chocolate before we talk?" asked Spencer.

"No coffee?" asked Emily.

Spencer shook his head, "The smell of coffee gets Olivia to deal with morning sickness all day, so I can't make coffee around her while she banned her students from drinking coffee in her classroom while she forbids me from drinking coffee when I get home from work while I've cut back on caffeine for my migraines."

"How are they by the way?" asked Emily.

"I still occasionally get a migraine and Olivia's and my new friend Maeve who works as a geneticist is going to be helping me find a treatment regime before she starts maternity leave herself," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer and Emily were in Spencer's and Olivia's office while Emily talked about how much she was struggling while she apologized for overcompensating herself before Emily ended up joining Olivia, Marissa, Joanna, and Maeve in the family room while wearing a pair of pajamas that don't fit Olivia anymore while Spencer ended up joining his father on the third level for a "Dr. Who" marathon before sleeping on the couch that his father had in his bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please let me know if I should create a crossover series that involves Piper and Serena eventually having playdates with the daughter of the two "Bones" characters that made a cameo appearance in this chapter.
> 
> Also, should I have it that Gideon appears and reconnects with Spencer before his eventual death or should I have it that Spencer finds out that Gideon was at his wedding and knows about Piper, Serena, and Spencer's and Olivia's eventual third child when he discovers that Gideon had framed the pictures that he has left at the cabin after Gideon is murdered?


	17. One Year, Gambling, & Forbidden Cravings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Aside from finding out that I need some physical therapy for my hips (weak hips is a consequence of being born with severe bilateral clubbed feet) I wanted to update my other stories while I had to deal with getting hacked on Facebook causing me to start a brand new Facebook account after I wasn't able to log back into my account because of not having a six-digit authentication code.
> 
> Woke up to a few more inches of snow, so if anyone else has been impacted by the same snowstorm that went through the Midwest overnight and during part of this morning and is now hitting the Northeast, please stay safe.
> 
> This chapter starts the day after the last chapter.

Olivia removed her blindfold when her eyes went wide when she recognized the movie theater they reunited at, "What are we doing here?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smiled at his wife, "Did pregnancy brain make you forget that it's the first anniversary of our reunion?" asked Spencer.

"I knew that it's the first anniversary of our reunion since I have an eidetic memory too, Doc," said Olivia.

"I just thought that to make our anniversary special, we could visit the same place we had our first reunion date at after you asked me if you can sit next to me. I actually called the theater and request that they play "Solaris" this afternoon," said Spencer.

Olivia grinned, "Let's go in."

A minute later Spencer was helping Olivia get out of his car and prop herself up with her crutches before they headed inside.

xxxxxx

15 minutes later Spencer and Olivia were sitting in the back of the movie theater when Olivia noticed that they were the only ones in the room causing her to look at her husband, "I know that half of the room was packed when we reunited, but why isn't anyone else here?" asked Olivia.

Spencer smirked, "When I asked if they could play "Solaris" for us today, I asked if I could rent out this room for just the two of us too since the theater will do private showings for birthday parties and so on."

Olivia grinned, "So that means that we can easily have a make-out session and not get kicked out?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

A few minutes later the movie was starting causing Spencer to wrap an arm around his wife.

xxxxx

After watching "Solaris" and having a few make-out sessions during the movie, Olivia grinned when her husband pulled up at the Indian restaurant that was good at making sure that they didn't add onions or garlic to their meals when she explained her allergy a year ago, "I've been craving Indian food for a while, Doc."

Spencer nodded, "Me too."

"At least we'll be able to have sex in our bed instead of you being a gentleman and drop me off at my hotel this time," said Olivia.

Spencer smirked as he thought about the other plan he made to celebrate their anniversary.

"You planned something else, did you?" asked Olivia.

"Despite the germaphobe I am, I booked us a hotel room so my father or Joanna don't have to head us having sex even though they told us that it's OK to have sex since we're married to each other and we're having a healthy sexual relationship."

Olivia smirked as she rubbed her 20-week pregnant baby bump, "Which led you to getting me pregnant with Piper and Serena about a month earlier than we originally planned even though we agreed to not use birth control and condoms."

At that moment Spencer's stomach growled.

"Let's go inside because Piper and Serena keep on pressing against my bladder," said Olivia.

A few seconds later Spencer was helping his wife get out of his car.

xxxxxx

30 minutes later Spencer and Olivia were waiting for their food when Spencer looked at his wife, "Despite the bad events I went through the past 365 days, I'm glad that I reunited with you sooner than we planned a year ago today because we've been married to each other for 175 days."

Olivia thought about being told that labor will be induced or she'll be getting a c-section when she reaches 38 weeks, "While we'll be holding Piper and Serena in less than 18 weeks too."

"Since Piper and Serena are going to be fraternal, who are you hoping that our daughters look like? I want one of them to look just like you," said Spencer.

"I want one of them to look just like you," said Olivia.

"Due to our combined IQ being 357, we both have eidetic memories, and can read books quickly do you think that Piper and Serena will have genius-level IQs, eidetic memories, and fast reading speeds?" asked Spencer.

"There's a big possibility, but at least being a university professor will help me get access to the resources to challenge Piper, Serena, and any other children we have together if we decide to let our children stay in the same grade as their peers," said Olivia.

"Even though we can let them skip three grades like you did instead of skipping six grades like me," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Even though there were girls at the all-girls Catholic high school I attended that hated me, I'm glad that a lot of girls were protective of me because of having a little sister my age."

"While there were some classmates in the basketball team who had siblings around my age that were protective of me too," said Spencer before thinking about when his daughters become teenagers, "Even though we agreed on St. John's College High School, do you think that we can send Piper and Serena to an all-girls Catholic high school when they start high school?" asked Spencer.

"So you don't have to worry about them having boyfriends in high school even though they would be hanging out with boys in their youth group?" asked Olivia.

"Yes," said Spencer.

"I'll think about it," said Olivia just as their food arrived causing her and her husband to eat dinner before they headed to a hotel where Spencer had booked a suite that included a jacuzzi bathtub and already had sparkling cider and chocolate-covered strawberries waiting for them.

xxxxxx

Over a week later; Spencer, a 21-week pregnant Olivia, William, and Joanna had just finished eating breakfast and were pulling on their winter coats so they could head to 8 A.M. Mass due to Spencer and Olivia promising Abigail and Brayden that they would visit the Smithsonian National Museum of the Native American when Spencer's work cell phone rang causing the 30-year-old husband, son, and soon to be father to groan loudly, "You've got to be kidding me," said a muttering Spencer before he answered his phone, "Dr. Reid."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your Sunday with your family, but we have a case that can't wait for us to arrive tomorrow," said Hotch apologetically.

"I'll be in as soon as I can," said Spencer before hanging up and looked at Olivia with an apologetic look on his face as he grabbed his packed go-bag by the coat rack before he unlocked his safe and pulled out his revolver and holster and attached the holster to his belt, "I'm sorry, but I have to head to Quantico since serial killers refused to take this weekend off and this case can't wait for my teammates and me to come in tomorrow."

Olivia nodded, "I understand, Doc. Please stay safe."

Spencer kissed his wife, "I'm going to fix myself another mug of coffee before I leave."

"Please stay safe," said Olivia.

"I promise," said Spencer.

"I love you," said Olivia.

"I love you too," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer who had quickly brewed another cup of coffee and placed it into his to-go mug was driving himself to Quantico.

xxxxx

As Spencer was flying to Atlantic City with his teammates, he was working on the list that Olivia wanted him to come up with for the registry for their upcoming baby shower as he listened to Emily, JJ, and Morgan banter about their favorite gangster flicks.

"No question. "Godfather II, " hands down," said a grinning Emily.

"No, no, gotta be "Scarface."," said Morgan.

"For me, "The Untouchables."," said JJ before looking at Spencer who was sitting next to Morgan while he did some writing, "Spence?" asked JJ.

Spencer thought about his favorite gangster flicks that he chooses to watch in their original languages so he has a chance to learn different languages while Olivia would study new languages too which causes them to enjoy foreign films together, "Mm, probably "Le Cercle Rouge, " the 1970s French classic, but "Den Tredje Vaagan" is definitely a close second."

"Yeah, that was my runner-up, too," chuckled Emily.

JJ looked at Rossi, "What about you, Rossi? Best ever gangster flick."

Rossi thought about his upbringing in Long Island, "I've had too much of the real thing to be a fan of mob movies."

Hotch became serious, "Garcia, did we get the crime scene surveillance video yet?" asked Hotch.

"No, sir, because there wasn't any," said Garcia.

Spencer thought about his and Olivia's escapades in various casinos in Nevada and Arizona when they turned 21 and decided to be rebellious despite Olivia not hurting on money since he wanted to make sure that his mother's care was covered for years while Olivia decided to use her winnings to help pay for his mother's care too, "That's not possible. Every inch of the casino is surveilled every minute of every day."

"Yeah. Apparently, the footage was tampered with, so...," said Garcia.

"All right. Reid and Prentiss, go to the crime scene," said Hotch.

Spencer and Emily both nodded.

Hotch looked at Rossi and JJ, "Dave, you and JJ find out if Savino was involved in anything the local authorities don't know about," said Hotch before looking at Morgan, "Morgan and I will contact the local FBI office and arrange a ceasefire with the families."

xxxxx

After visiting the crime scene, Spencer looked at his watch and realized that Mass would be over causing him to pull out his personal cell phone and dialed the number for Abigail's cell phone.

"Hi, uncle Spencer," said Abigail.

"If Brayden's with you, can you please put your phone on speaker?" asked Spencer.

"Yes, uncle Spencer," said Abigail as she put her phone on speaker.

"Hi, uncle Spencer," said Brayden.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to take you two to one of the Smithsonian Museums after Mass," said Spencer apologetically.

"It's OK, uncle Spencer. You warned us that unsubs won't always take weekends off and there will be some Sundays that you won't be able to spend time with us," said Brayden.

"Besides, Grandpa William offered to take Olivia, Abigail, and me to the Smithson National Museum of the American Indian himself so we can still go on an outing with Aunt Olivia," said Abigail.

"Grandpa William, huh?" asked Spencer.

"Our maternal grandfather died when we were eight, so your father has been treating us like grandchildren the past few weeks, uncle Spencer. He promised to help me with my batting for when I try out for Our Lady of Victory's baseball team in few months since dad doesn't like baseball," said Brayden.

"That's good, Brayden," said Spencer before noticing that they were almost to the field office, "I have to get going, but I'll find time to call you two and find out how your trip to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and see if you two have any questions on your homework before you two have school tomorrow."

"Stay safe, uncle Spencer," said Abigail and Brayden in unison.

"I promise and I love you guys," said Spencer.

"We love you too," said Abigail and Brayden before Abigail hung up.

xxxxx

Two days later Spencer was at the newest crime scene with Emily, counted the money that was left at the crime scene, "$88. The unsub's getting generous," said Spencer dryly.

"There's less rage than the others. And undoing. There's evidence of remorse. Shot in the back so he wouldn't have to face his victim," said Emily as Hotch and Agent Goslin joined them.

"No robbery this time, either. Wallet's intact, except for anything to I.D. him," said Spencer as he stood up to his full height.

"Is this even the same killer?" asked Agent Goslin.

"The ritual's too similar to discount it," said Hotch as Agent Goslin walked away to answer her phone.

"The change in the M.O. makes sense if the unsub is still refining his system. Maybe killing the cashier at the gas station didn't work, so he's back to the drawing board," said Emily.

Spencer thought about the unsub's love of leaving cash that dealt with the number 8, "Two 8s instead of one could also be significant. I know in China the number 8 symbolizes prosperity. The more 8s the better. As a matter of fact, in Chengdu, a telephone number consisting of all 8s recently sold for over a quarter-million dollars."

"So why would he be doubling up on his luck out here, away from all the casinos?" asked Emily.

Agent Goslin walked over, "There's been another killing. A guest in his room at the Sapphire Lady."

"Same ritual?" asked Hotch.

"No. His neck was broken. And he was robbed of 50,000. But the strange thing is, the killer left nearly 20,000 behind with the body," said Agent Goslin.

Hotch got Garcia on the phone, "Garcia, is there a casino in the neighborhood of Penrose and Morningside Avenue?" asked Hotch.

Garcia did some typing, "Uh... No casinos per se, but there's a private gambling establishment right around the corner."

"Is it legal?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah. But it's ultra-exclusive. They have a monthly high-stakes poker tournament, today being the day for the month, coincidentally enough," said Garcia.

"Or no coincidence at all," said Emily.

"What's the buy-in?" asked Hotch.

Garcia did some typing, "Um... Yikies. $50,000. But it's a million-dollar guarantee if you win."

"What time does it start?" asked Hotch.

"Later this afternoon," said Garcia.

"Thanks," said Hotch.

xxxxx

A short while later Spencer was looking at the evidence board when Agent Goslin walked in.

"Forensics got a fingerprint match on the last victim. Eddie Langdon. We're looking into him," said Agent Goslin.

JJ looked at Hotch who was seeing if they could borrow some money from the Bureau to send someone undercover, "Hey, any luck?" asked JJ.

Hotch looked at his phone, "No, they don't want to allocate agency funds for the buy-in. I'm still working on it."

"Well, I can't imagine why not. We're only asking for 50,000 bucks of taxpayer money so that FBI agents can play Texas hold 'em," said Rossi sarcastically.

Emily thought about how rich Rossi is, "Hey, what about you?" asked Emily.

"What about me what?" asked Rossi.

"You could stake us the buy-in," said Rossi.

Spencer decided to hold back his tongue on also being a millionaire too as he sat down, "Yeah, you're a best-selling author."

"No," said Rossi firmly.

"Why not?" asked Emily.

"One, it's against regulations, and I'd like to hold on to this job for a little while longer," said Rossi firmly.

"It's a minor administrative violation," said JJ.

"And two, I prefer to spend my money on actual things, like single-malt scotch, a fine cigar, beautiful artwork, and paying for the tuition of my soon to be born adopted granddaughters' Catholic school education," admitted Rossi.

Spencer looked at Rossi in shock while Emily quickly spoke up.

"Poker chips are things," said Emily.

"Maybe just think of it as like a new experience," said Spencer before thinking about Rossi currently being 55-years-old, "I mean, at your age, how often does that happen?" asked Spencer.

Rossi glared at Spencer, "At my what?" asked Rossi.

Spencer gulped as he thought about the bottom of his shoe tasting horribly.

"Rossi, this may be our only chance to get this guy," said JJ.

Spencer thought about him and Olivia now having over 15 million in the bank due to getting the money from paying for his mother's care back from Bennington back after the F.B.I. insisted on paying for his mother's care at Bennington for the next decade while he also had some patents, "I can easily pay the $50,000."

Rossi looked at Spencer, "Even though I know that you're not hurting on money, don't you dare call your bank and withdraw the $50,000 since your pregnant wife will kill you or do a vasectomy on you herself if you use the money you two share."

Spencer gulped, "I definitely don't want to anger my pregnant wife."

Emily looked at Rossi, "So you're going to pay?" asked Emily.

Rossi nodded, "I'm a decent poker player. But I can't promise that I can stay in the game long enough to-," said Rossi until Emily interrupted.

"You know what? I bet you're a great poker player, but what if we sent in Reid?" asked Emily as she thought about Spencer doubting his career in the F.B.I. a few weeks prior and should get some action.

"I'm banned from casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin, and Parump because of my card-counting ability," admitted Spencer.

"Look, I know I'm not a genius like the boy wonder here, but poker is not Blackjack. It's about bluffing, reading human nature, head games. It's not math," said Rossi.

"That's not entirely accurate," said Spencer as he stood up and walked to the clear board and started to write an equation on the board, "There actually is a mathematical equation for knowing when to raise and when to fold. If P represents the size of the pot at the time of play, then P times N minus one, with N representing the estimated number of players in the final round of betting-," rambled Spencer just until Rossi interrupted.

"OK, fine. I surrender. Just try not to lose all of my money because I'm going to be paying for Piper's, Serena's, and any other grandchildren that you and Olivia give me Catholic school tuition when they get accepted to the Catholic school of yours and Olivia's choice," said Rossi.

Spencer snapped his fingers before giving Rossi a thumb's up.

Agent Goslin looked at Rossi, "If Dr. Reid's daughters end up inheriting Dr. Reid's eyes, you're going to be in so much trouble."

Rossi nodded, "Everyone is going to be in so much trouble because Reid's puppy-dog eyes are very dangerous."

"Reid will be in trouble too if Piper and Serena both end up having Reid wrapped around their little fingers," said Hotch.

Spencer looked at Hotch, "Will it be an issue if I'm the one who goes undercover?" asked Spencer.

Hotch shook his head, "You're the best poker player on the team and you just need to stay safe so Olivia doesn't kill any of us for letting you get hurt."

xxxxxx

After telling the security guard that his disguised distress beacon was for bad breath, he went to get himself an Arnold Palmer because of not being allowed to drink alcoholic beverages while undercover and played a few rounds at table 4 before he noticed a magic 8 ball key chain causing him to look at one of the attendants, "You know, would it be all right if I sat at table 2 instead of 4?" asked Spencer as he pointed at his eyes, "I have a pre-glaucoma condition and the light's kind of bothering my eyes."

The attendant nodded as she made some notes.

"Thanks," said Spencer as he got up and joined the table that the unsub was at.

ccccc

A short while later a man moved some chips forward.

"Ah, I'm calling," said a man.

The unsub moved some chips forward, "I'll raise. 8,000."

Spencer quickly did some math in his head, "$8,000. That's, uh, 56 months wages for the average person in Bangladesh. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?" asked Spencer.

"Hey, it's 8 thou to you. Now, are you in or are you out?" asked another man.

Spencer grabbed multiple chips of his, "I... Am in. And I raise."

"3 raise. That's too rich for my blood," said a man.

Spencer started a staring contest with the unsub.

The caller looked at the unsub, "Are you in, sir?" asked the caller.

The unsub added more chips, "I'll call."

Spencer flipped over his cards, "Straight."

Every man looked at Spencer in shock.

"A gut-shot straight draw? Are you kidding me? That is just- that is nuts. That's crazy, man," said the caller.

Spencer was rubbing his chin as he looked at the magic 8 ball as he thought about knowing that he was sitting across from the unsub and Hotch told him that he needed to start a scene to be extracted that would cause the unsub to leave the room, "Do you mind if I take a look at this?" asked Spencer as he placed his hand over the key chain.

The unsub quickly grabbed Spencer's wrist, "Hey."

A security guard came over, "What's the problem, sir?" asked the security guard.

"Hey, he's reaching for my chips," said the unsub.

"I was simply admiring-," protested Spencer just as the security guard grabbed him.

"Sir, you need to come with me," said the security guard.

"You don't have to manhandle-I can walk. I'll cooperate. Don't manhandle me," said Spencer until the security guard let go of him, "Thanks."

The unsub watched Spencer grab something from the table and flipped off the lid causing a red light to blink as he walked away.

A minute later Spencer was in the lobby just as Hotch and Emily rushed into the room.

Hotch looked at the security guard, "He's an FBI Agent."

The guard quickly removed his hand from Spencer's back.

Spencer pointed at the unsub who was fleeing the room, "There he goes. Plaid shirt, baseball hat."

Hotch and Emily quickly went to chase after the unsub.

"No chasing the man my teammates and I are trying to catch since I don't have my Kevlar vest on," said Spencer.

The security guard looked at Spencer, "I saw you playing earlier and you're good."

Spencer smirked, "My hometown is Las Vegas, Nevada and I'm banned from casinos in my hometown and two other towns in Nevada causing my teammates to agree that I was the best agent to go undercover."

"While you're most likely going to be banned from casinos here in Atlantic City too," said the security guard.

"I don't mind because I only play poker for fun now while my wife and I aren't hurting on money," said Spencer.

xxxxxx

As they were flying home, Spencer's phone vibrated causing him to see a text message from Olivia.

ARE YOU GOING TO BE HOME THIS AFTERNOON? I'M CRAVING ONIONS AND GARLIC SO BAD THAT I SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT WITH AN ALLERGIST FOR THIS AFTERNOON TO SEE IF I'M STILL ALLERGIC TO ALLIUM BEFORE I PUT MY HEALTH AT RISK AND CONSUME THEM. I WANT YOU THERE WITH ME. ~ OR

Spencer smiled as he replied.

I'M FLYING HOME RIGHT NOW. ~ SR

Rossi looked at Spencer, "Olivia?" asked Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "She wants to eat onions and garlic so bad that she scheduled an appointment with an allergist to see if she's still allergic or not before she puts her health at risk and consumes food with onions and garlic."

"She wants you at her appointment?" asked Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

A curious JJ looked at Spencer, "You don't have to answer this, but since you offered to pay for the buy-in before Rossi shut you down, how much money do you have?" asked JJ.

Spencer took a breath, "Our combined bank accounts have enough money that allows Olivia and me to actually retire and be stay at home parents at our current age of 30 while our Piper, Serena, any other children we have together, and our niece and nephews Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer can each collect multiple degrees at whatever college they attend."

"You might have competition since Reid has told us that his book is going to be published this summer, Rossi," smirked Emily.

"Then why not retire?" asked Rossi.

"We need to keep our minds active while we're happy with our jobs," said Spencer.

xxxxx

Later on that afternoon, Spencer and now 22-week pregnant Olivia were sitting across from Olivia's allergist Dr. Francesca Monroe when Olivia spoke up, "I've been desperately been craving foods that have onions and garlic as ingredients like garlic bread, onion rings, sour cream & onion potato chips, and various other foods and I have avoided eating food that contains any vegetables in the allium family for years ever since I found out that I'm allergic to onions and garlic when I was five," said Olivia.

"So you want me to perform an allergy test to see if you have outgrown your allergy to vegetables in the allium family?" asked Dr. Monroe.

Olivia nodded, "My OB-GYN Dr. Carter said that it's now safe for Piper, Serena, and me to have my allergy to vegetables in the allium family since she agreed that I needed to see if I'm still allergic or not before I consume foods with onions and garlic."

"Then let's do an allergy test then," said Dr. Monroe before making eye contact with Olivia, "Since you're 22-weeks pregnant with twins and wheelchair-bound, do you want your husband and me to help you lay down on your side so I can do the test on your back or do you want me to do it on your forearm so you can stay in your wheelchair?" asked Dr. Monroe.

"Forearm please," said Olivia.

xxxxx

15 minutes later Olivia was gripping her husband's hand as Dr. Monroe poked needles into her already bare forearm that was already wiped down with alcohol.

When Dr. Monroe was finished, she looked at Olivia as she covered up Olivia's arm so she doesn't have to watch the reaction, "Now we have to wait 15 to 30 minutes for the results, so I'll just go and quickly meet with another patient before I check in on you again."

"OK, Dr. Monroe," said Olivia.

As soon as Dr. Monroe left the room, Olivia looked at her husband, "Since I'm 22-weeks pregnant and have about ten more weeks before I'm not allowed to fly, we should think about going on a baby-moon for a week."

"Even though I already requested to take six-weeks off after Piper's and Serena's births, I have some vacation time saved up and I know that Hotch would most likely let me take a week off to visit my mom. When do you want to go?" asked Spencer.

"Since I'll be off of work from March 2nd through March 12th, I was thinking that we could fly to Las Vegas and spend three days with your mother and then go to Sedona, Arizona and stay at the Sedona Rouge Hotel and Spa Hotel for three days," said Olivia.

"Are you sure about flying on a commercial flight during the 25th and 26th week of your pregnancy?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "Yes."

"Then I'll talk to Hotch about taking a week off and then we'll see about booking flights and hotel rooms even though Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon would let us stay in our bedroom at their ranch," said Spencer.

Olivia thought about a surprise she had arranged for her husband during their last trip to Las Vegas that would always be there for them to stay at when they go visit her mother-in-law, "I rather not stay at your aunt and uncle's since a baby-moon involves sex, so I'll make arrangements on where we'll stay."

"OK," said Spencer before he spent the next ten minutes talking about the case he had while Olivia laughed about her husband ending up getting blacklisted from the casino he ended up going undercover in despite winning back the $50,000 Rossi personally paid for the buy-in despite his offer to pay while he also won an additional $40,000 that he gets to keep for himself despite the taxes that would be taken away from his winnings causing them to talk and laugh about the trips to casinos they made themselves when they were 21 to see how quick it took for them to be blacklisted until Dr. Monroe entered the room.

"Seems like you two had quite a conversation that caused you two to be laughing," said Dr. Monroe.

Spencer nodded, "We've known each other since we were 15 and aside from talking about going on a baby-moon in a few weeks, we were talking about my latest case that caused us to think about some of the adventures we went on when we were 21."

"That's a good distraction while you wait for the results," said Dr. Monroe before looking at Olivia's covered up arm, "How are you feeling right now, Olivia?" asked Dr. Monroe.

"Fine right now," said Olivia.

"Let's check your skin then," said Dr. Monroe before she uncovered Olivia's arm to see no reaction at all while she looked at the lab results that she had rushed, "It seems like you outgrew your allium allergy since your blood work was fine too."

Olivia burst into tears, "Stupid hormones."

Dr. Monroe chuckled before becoming serious, "Even though the skin test and blood test results were good, we need to do a food challenge that involves you consuming foods from the allium family in small intakes before you have a full serving without an allergic reaction. This process will take several hours."

Olivia nodded, "I understand. I have tomorrow morning off, can I please come in tomorrow morning?" asked Olivia.

Dr. Monroe's nurse checked the schedule and nodded, "Tomorrow works.

"Don't consume any allium family vegetables until you come in tomorrow morning," said Dr. Monroe.

"Yes, ma'am," said Olivia.

xxxx

The next day at lunchtime, Spencer was about to heat up some leftovers and call Olivia when Olivia who was sporting a visitor's badge entered his office with a bag of takeout, "I was just about to call you to find out how your appointment went, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia gave her husband a neutral look, "I thought that I can reveal the results of the food challenge by having us eat lunch together since our standing Monday lunch date couldn't happen here two days ago."

Spencer instantly smelled garlic as he looked at the takeout bag from his favorite Indian restaurant, "If I'm smelling garlic right now, I take it that you were able to eat a full serving and not have an allergic reaction."

Olivia nodded, "Even though I didn't develop an allergic reaction, I was told to take it easy," said Olivia as she rubbed her 22-week baby bump, "Let's eat because Piper, Serena, and I want garlic naan."

After kissing Olivia to celebrate no longer being allergic to vegetables in the allium family, Spencer and Olivia were in the cafeteria enjoying lunch as they talked about what they want to make for dinner that night while Spencer happily told Olivia that he has off on March 2nd and doesn't have to return to work until March 12th.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What do you think that Olivia is up to?
> 
> It's going to most likely be over a week before I update any of my stories because aside from having time to write all-day tomorrow, I'll only be having a few hours to write on Tuesday and Friday this week because of having physical therapy (I take public transportation and it takes two buses to get to the rehab center) while Wednesday and Thursday will involve babysitting my two-year-old step-niece all day while and I can't have my laptop around a two-year-old toddler.


	18. Surprise & Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Aside from dealing with writer's block and currently dealing with a cold, I had to deal with babysitting my niece, a snowstorm, a polar vortex that brought the real feel to feel like -35 degrees outside, physical therapy, working on my other stories, and celebrating my first anniversary/Valentine's Day with my boyfriend.
> 
> This chapter starts on 2-10-2012 and I hope that everyone loves the surprise that happens in this chapter.

Spencer and Olivia were at Olivia's 22-week check-up when Dr. Carter who had finishing measuring Olivia's baby bump and checked Olivia's chart spoke up, "I need to do an additional ultrasound," said Dr. Carter.

"Is everything OK?" asked Olivia.

"Aside from being concerned about the size of your baby bump and your weight gain, there was something strange with the heartbeats when I placed my stethoscope against your belly," said Dr. Carter.

"What's wrong with the heartbeats?" asked Spencer.

"I rather not say anything until I see for myself, so let's have you start expanding your bladder and we'll do the ultrasound in about 90 minutes," said Dr. Carter.

Spencer took a breath, "At least I took the morning off."

xxxxx

90 minutes later, Spencer and Olivia's eyes were on the screen when Dr. Carter looked at them, "I thought that I was hearing three heartbeats, so Piper and Serena were hiding their brother."

A grinning Olivia looked at her husband, "Even though multiples are common in my side of the family, your swimmers are extremely magical."

"Triplets?" asked Spencer as his eyes rolled back before he slid off the stool and fell onto the floor.

Olivia burst out laughing as tears fell down her face, "I did not expect Spencer to faint at all, but can you please help me wake Spencer up since he's still required to go to work this afternoon?" asked Olivia.

Dr. Carter smiled a bit as she grabbed her bag of smelling salts and filled a small cup with water, "I deal with new fathers fainting a lot, but at least this is the first time your husband fainted," said Dr. Carter as she placed the salts by Spencer's nose.

A minute later Spencer's eyes opened up as he croaked, "Was I hallucinating about being told that I'm now a father to triplets instead of twins?" asked Spencer before he accepted the cup of water and took a few sips.

Olivia shook her head, "Not at all, Doc. We're expecting triplets instead of twins. I hope that it's OK that we name our firstborn son Albert Edmund Reid even though we also agreed on Conrad Alexander Reid when we found out that we were having twins."

"Albert Edmund Reid is perfect since Albert Edmund means noble prosperity protector," said Spencer.

"Love the meaning," said Dr. Carter.

Olivia thought about her job since she knew that triplets were higher risk than twins, "What about my job at Georgetown University?" asked Olivia.

"Since you told me that you've been Skyping with your students during office hours, I rather have it that you teach from home like iTeacher from "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" until you go into labor," said Dr. Carter.

"What's "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"?" asked Spencer and Olivia in unison.

"A children's TV show that aired from 2004 to 2007 on Nickelodeon. There's this season three character called iTeacher who taught English to her eighth-grade students from her home via webcam and she had a student push a computer around the school and pass out papers. Your TA can do the hard work of writing on the board in your classroom, passing out tests, collecting them, and giving them to you while you lecture from home or prerecord your lecture and have your TA play the lecture," said Dr. Carter.

"I think that would work since I have a tenure while my teaching assistant has been extremely helpful with taking over teaching when I need to use the bathroom or when I have an appointment with my prosthesis who couldn't meet with me when I'm not working," said Olivia before thinking about her upcoming baby-moon that her husband already got time off for, "Can I still fly to Las Vegas and then Sedona, Arizona during the 25th and 26th week from March 1st to March 7th when my students are on spring break?" asked Olivia.

"I rather have it that you don't get on a plane, so you two should go on your baby-moon somewhere else that can be traveled to by car or train in five hours," said Dr. Carter.

Spencer looked at Olivia, "Knowing my mom, she'll get on a plane to visit us for a few days on the week of March 1st when we tell her that you're now banned from flying."

"But where can we go for our baby-moon?" asked Olivia.

"As far as I know it, my former unit chief Gideon still owns his cabin near Roanoke, Virginia since the key he gave me long before his retirement still works in the locks and I doubt that he would have an issue with us staying at his cabin for a few days," said Spencer.

"Staying in a cabin for a few days is perfect as long as you don't go on any hikes, Olivia," said Dr. Carter.

"Then we can spend a few days in your former boss who told us that we should consider breaking up to follow our dreams cabin," grumbled Olivia before looking at her gynecologist, "I know that having triplets is a much higher risk than twins, but will it be an issue if I have one more baby so we can complete our goal of having four children?" asked Olivia.

"Since your a healthy 30-year-old woman who is going through a high-risk pregnancy now instead of later, I don't see there being any problem with you getting pregnant again as long as you wait until after Piper, Serena, and Albert turn two so your body has two years to recover from giving birth to triplets," said Dr. Carter.

Olivia nodded, "I understand."

"Me too," said Spencer.

"And speaking of sex, you two need to stop having sex until after I give the all-clear after Piper, Serena, and Albert are born," said Dr. Carter.

Spencer and Olivia both blushed before Olivia spoke up, "We understand because we were able to control ourselves since we managed to stay virgins until our wedding night."

xxxx

A short while later Spencer, Olivia, William, and Joanna were eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch when William looked at his son and daughter-in-law, "Are you two OK? You two look like you both had a big shock," said William.

Spencer took a breath, "We're gonna need to buy another dresser, crib, changing table, and add a triple stroller instead of a double stroller to the baby shower registry."

William quickly connected the dots, "I'm becoming a grandfather to triplets instead of twin girls?" asked William.

Olivia nodded, "Apparently Piper and Serena were hiding their triplet brother Albert Edmund Reid and we were able to naturally conceive fraternal triplets without any fertility treatment," said Olivia before looking at her husband, "Despite that finding out that we're expecting triplets instead of twins, I'm happy and excited since I could imagine us being married for like seven years and have three kids by now if we didn't break up so I could follow my post-college dreams of joining the Peace Corps after I graduated college and taught for a year."

"I'm happy too, but at least we have the help us manage taking care of triplets while I'll see about starting paternity leave after Piper, Serena, and Albert are out of the NICU," said Spencer.

William nodded, "Since I've been through dealing with sleepless nights when you were a baby, you two know that I'm here to help out with nighttime feedings and diaper changes."

"I'm here too," said Joanna.

"I know," said Spencer before looking at his father, "I hope that it's OK that Livy and I chose to name our firstborn son Albert Edmund Reid since Olivia wants to honor her late father, Albert Einstein being one of our favorite mathematicians and physicists, Edmund saved Olivia's life after she was bitten by that Mojave rattlesnake, while I love the meaning of Albert Edmund."

"Nobel prosperity protector," said Olivia.

"I understand since I had a feeling that you weren't going to name one of my grandsons after me since I abandoned you for 17 years," said William before thinking about his wife, "Have you contacted your mother yet, Spencer?" asked William.

Spencer nodded, "I tried to, but she's currently having an episode and wasn't allowed to talk on the phone."

"We'll contact her later," said Olivia before grinning, "While Spencer drove us home, I sent Edmund, Danielle, and Marissa text messages and I had to deal with a phone call from Marissa screaming in excitement about getting to be a godmother to triplets."

"While Danielle and Edmund are excited and promised that we can tell Abigail and Brayden ourselves," said Spencer.

"Speaking of my grandson, is he going to get his own nursery right away or will he be sharing a room with his sisters for a few years?" asked William.

"We decided that they'll be sharing the nursery since they'll sleep in the same crib until they're too big to share a crib while Albert will get his own room when he moves into a twin-sized bed," said Spencer.

William nodded, "OK."

Olivia looked at the clock as she sighed, "Well you should head to Quantico while I have a meeting with the head of the mathematics department and the Dean of the university about my job."

"Are you quitting your job?" asked William.

Olivia shook her head, "I'm going to request that my classes be moved to online classes until after graduation and that I work as an online professor next year so I can easily take care of Piper, Serena, and Albert while I'm teaching."

Spencer looked at his father, "You're gonna have to drive Olivia since Dr. Carter doesn't want her to drive anymore."

"Which is fine since I have an afternoon class to teach while Olivia has office hours," said William.

A few minutes later Spencer was helping Olivia get into his father's car and load his wife's wheelchair into the backseat of his father's car before his father drove him to the train station.

xxxxx

Over an hour later Spencer walked into the bullpen to find Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, Emily, Garcia, and JJ talking over coffee or tea, "Afternoon," said Spencer.

"How are Piper and Serena doing?" asked Emily.

Spencer took a breath, "They're doing great especially since they also did a great job hiding their brother Albert Edmund Reid from the ultrasound tech."

Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, Emily, Garcia, and JJ looked at Spencer in shock.

"Did you just say that Olivia's pregnant with triplets?" asked Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "I saw the ultrasound with my own eyes," said Spencer as he pulled the photo from his messenger bag and passed it around while he reluctantly went through being hugged, patted on the pack, or in Rossi's case kissed on both cheeks.

After the team was done celebrating, Spencer looked at his teammates, "Before you guys ask, Olivia's older brother Edmund and her best friend Marissa are also going to be Albert's godparents too since it will be easier for Piper, Serena, and Albert to share the same godparents instead of them arguing who is the better godparent if they're each given different godparents."

Hotch decided to answer for the team, "We understand, Reid."

Rossi looked at Spencer, "I know that you and Olivia named your son after your brother-in-law, but you do know that there's a serial killer called Edmund Kemper."

Spencer nodded, "I know, but since Hotch's son is named after various serial killers like Jack the Ripper, I'm choosing on overlooking the fact that my son is named after a serial killer since my wife wanted to name our firstborn son after her late father and her brother even though Edmund is alive. I approved Olivia's choice of name because Albert Edmund means noble prosperity protector."

"Which rings a good bell while I agree that it's better to not argue the name choice your wife wants since Haley and I had a hard," said Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Exactly," said Spencer before looking at Hotch, "Just in case Olivia doesn't go into labor by the 36th week, Olivia has scheduled a c-section for when she's 35-weeks and six days on May 14th. Since Piper, Serena, and Albert are gonna need to spend time in the NICU for a few weeks, we agreed that I won't officially start paternity leave until Piper, Serena, and Albert are released from the hospital at the same time."

"We'll discuss time off later," said Hotch.

"OK," said Spencer.

xxxxx

Later on, that evening, Spencer, Olivia, William, Joanna, Abigail, and Brayden were eating eggplant lasagna for dinner while Baby Spencer who had already been given a bottle was in his baby swing when Spencer looked at his wife who already told him that she got approval to give her lectures from home through Skype until she goes into labor and her teaching assistant then finishes off the semester for her, "Hotch and I talked about what I'm going to do from when Piper, Serena, and Albert are born until they're released from the hospital."

"What did you two agree on?" asked Olivia.

"When you go into labor, I'll take a week off from work to help take care of you and then I'll work from home on paperwork days so I can easily spend time at the NICU, work on consults, and take care of you while I'll only go to Quantico when I have a class to teach at the academy or there's a case," said Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "And since we already agreed that Piper, Serena, and Albert will come home together, I take it that you'll then take six-weeks off when Piper, Serena, and Albert are discharged?" asked Olivia.

"Yes," said Spencer before looking at Abigail and Brayden who were sleeping over with their baby brother because of their parents deciding to go to Baltimore for the weekend, "After dinner is cleaned up, what will you two want to do?" asked Spencer.

Brayden who was so excited about getting a male cousin from his aunt and uncle looked at his uncle, "Can we buy paint for Albert's nursery and start painting Albert's nursery?" asked Brayden.

"Piper, Serena, and Albert are going to be sharing the nursery until they're transitioned to twin-sized beds, Brayden," said Olivia.

"OK," said Brayden before thinking about a movie that was released today, "Can we go see "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" since it's finally in theaters today?" asked Brayden.

Abigail grinned, "Can we?" asked Abigail.

Olivia quickly pulled up the movie on her phone and saw that the next showing was happening in 90 minutes looked at her father-in-law, "Do you think that you can handle watching Baby Spencer for a few hours so Spencer and I can take Abigail and Brayden to one of the movies we've been planning on seeing at some point?" asked Olivia.

William nodded, "I can."

"Then we'll go see "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island"," said Spencer.

"Yay!" cheered Abigail and Brayden.

xxxxx

90 minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Abigail, and Brayden were sharing two bags of popcorn as they watched the previews before "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" started.

xxxxxx

After getting home from the movies, Spencer and Olivia were sitting up in their bed while five-month-old Baby Spencer slept in a pack-n-play by Spencer's side of the bed when Spencer looked at his wife "Since this is our first time alone since we left Dr. Carter's office, how are you doing with the news about expecting triplets?" asked Spencer.

"Even though I'm excited about having three of the four children we want to have together at once, I'm glad that I'm going through the hardest pregnancy while I'm still young while I'm also scared since Piper, Serena, and Albert will have to spend a few days to a few months in the hospital since they're going to be born much sooner than a singleton and twins," said Olivia.

"I'm excited and scared too, but we know that Piper, Serena, and Albert will be delivered and whisked away to the NICU before it gets too dangerous for you to carry Piper, Serena, and Albert any longer." said Spencer before thinking about him and Olivia telling Dr. Carter that they're wanting Piper, Albert, and Serena to be in the neonatal unit at Children's National after they're born, "Besides, they're going to be getting some of the best care since Children's National has one of the best neonatal care units in this country."

"While a lot of people will be praying for Piper's, Serena's, Albert's, and my health too," said Olivia.

"Exactly," said Spencer before looking at his wife, "We should get some sleep since Baby Spencer might wake us up soon."

Olivia kissed her husband, "I love you."

"I love you too," said Spencer.

xxxxx

The next afternoon, Spencer and his father were working together on putting together a crib for Albert together when Spencer's cell phone rang causing him to see that it was Bennington Sanitarium, "It's Bennington," said Spencer as he answered his phone and answered it, "Dr. Reid," answered Spencer.

"Hello, Spencer," said Diana.

"Hi, mom," said Spencer.

"Dr. Norman said that you called yesterday, but you didn't get to talk to me since I was having an episode. Is everything OK with Olivia and my soon to be born grandchildren?" asked Diana.

"Everything is going great even though Livy and I were given shocking news yesterday," said Spencer.

"What did you and Olivia find out?" asked Diana.

"Piper and Serena were hiding their triplet brother Albert Edmund Reid," said Spencer.

"Olivia's doctor is a neanderthal for not finding out that you and Olivia were expecting triplets sooner, Spencer," said Diana.

"Not all doctors are neanderthals, mom. Piper and Serena have just been doing a great job hiding their triplet brother or Albert was too shy to show himself in the ultrasound while twins or triplets might not be always discovered right away in the ultrasound mom," said Spencer before deciding to change the topic, "Do you approve the name, Albert Edmund Reid? Albert Edmund means noble prosperity protector while Olivia wanted to name our firstborn son after her late father and my brother-in-law Edmund."

"I approve Albert Edmund Reid since it's such a distinguished name for my grandson while I'm hoping that Albert looks so much like you," said Diana.

Spencer smiled, "Olivia is hoping that Albert looks just like me."

"How is Olivia dealing with the news about expecting triplets instead of twins?" asked Diana.

"She's happy since she'll have one less pregnancy to deal with when we're ready for our fourth and final child while she's going to be working from home until she gives birth," said Spencer.

"That's good and she better not be getting on a plane until after she gives birth," said Diana.

"Her doctor already told her that she's barred from getting on a plane," said Spencer.

"Good," said Diana.

"Even though you agreed to fly out here after your grandchildren are born, do you want to come out here and visit for a few days on March 3rd while you also come out here as soon as Piper, Serena, and Albert are cleared to be held by family members and friends by the staff members in the neonatal intensive care unit?" asked Spencer.

"Yes," said Diana.

"Then I'll start making arrangements for you to come out here. Do you want to stay in the guest bedroom or stay in a nearby hospital?" asked Spencer.

"I'll stay at your house again, Spencer," said Diana before sighing, "I have to get going, but I'll call Olivia later."

"OK, and I'm sorry that I'm not able to come out for your birthday on Monday," said Spencer.

"It's OK since you're saving your vacation days for after my grandchildren are home from the hospital," said Diana before taking a breath, "I love you and please stay safe during your next case, Spencer."

"I promise and I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up.

cccc

Three days later, Spencer who just got home from a case in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, California entered the house with a bouquet of roses and passed them to Olivia who was already prepped and ready to go in her wheelchair, "I know that I had flowers delivered to your office at Georgetown University this morning, but happy Valentine's Day, Livy," said Spencer.

Olivia smiled at her husband, "Happy Valentine's Day, Doc. Do you need to take a shower and change your clothes before we head to the 8:45 P.M. showing of "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D"?" asked Olivia.

Spencer shook his head, "I took a quick shower in the locker room and changed at work."

"Then let's go because I want some popcorn," said Olivia.

xxxx

A half-hour later Spencer and Olivia were holding hands as they shared a bag of popcorn as they anxiously waited in the packed movie theater for "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D" to start.

xxxxx

The next morning Spencer headed to the coffee machine to find Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, JJ, and Rossi talking, "How was your Valentine's Day? Livy and I went to see "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D" before we went out for a late dinner," said Spencer.

"Beth and I went on our first date," said Hotch.

"Kevin and I went out for dinner," said Garcia.

"Rossi, Prentiss, I went out for drinks," said Morgan.

JJ who had used makeup to cover up her bruises from her hand to hand combat fight with their recent unsub looked at her teammates, "Since I didn't want to go out to the bar with Morgan and Rossi due to my cuts and bruises from my fight with Michael and Will wanted to take Marissa out on a date for Valentine's Day, Henry slept over last night. I ended up allowing him to stay up a bit later so we can order pizza and watch "Cars" as our mother/son date," said JJ before smiling a bit, "Plus this morning I was grabbing myself some tea when I ran into my ex-boyfriend Cory from high school causing me to find out that he has recently moved down here and he's a widower with a five-year-old son named Justin. He actually asked me out for dinner tonight when he found out that I'm single."

Garcia thought about knowing that it's been almost nine months since JJ broke up with Will while she also told JJ that she believes that Olivia is perfect for Spencer, "Are you sure that you're ready?" asked Garcia.

JJ nodded, "I've been going to therapy for the past five months while Will has been telling me about his and Marissa's relationship from when they were kids until Marissa moved to Pasadena causing me to realize that they're perfect for each other," said JJ before looking at Spencer, "While I also know that you refuse to abandon Olivia, Piper, Serena, and Albert to get together with me since you refuse to make the same mistakes your father made."

Spencer nodded, "Then I wish you luck on exploring your relationship with Cory," said Spencer before he headed to his office to work on consults.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As someone who grew up with two younger brothers, I decided that Spencer and Olivia will try for another baby boy since I sometimes felt lonely as my parents' only daughter even though I had the advantage of getting my own bedroom when I turned six (My parents, two brothers, and I were living with my widowed maternal grandmother from when I was one until I was almost eight for extra help until my Irish twin and I were going to school all-day five days a week instead of going to the local preschool/kindergarten for the afternoon) while I did argue with my brothers and I did fight over what we got to watch on TV or who got to sit in the front seat when we were old enough to sit in the front seat.


	19. Imagination & Family Annihilator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts on February 16th of 2012, so Olivia is still 23-weeks pregnant.

Spencer and Olivia were cuddling in bed since they had time to cuddle before they had to get up and get ready for the day when Spencer looked at his wife, "I'm sorry that we won't be able to attend your high school reunion next month," said Spencer.

"It's OK, Spencer. When we found out that we were expecting multiples, I knew that there wasn't a chance that we wouldn't be able to make it to my high school reunion. Thankfully I got in touch with my former headmistress about me doing a Skype call when it's time for the valedictorian to speak and she agreed when I told her that I'm now living in Washington D.C. with my husband and is currently 23-weeks pregnant with triplets and barred from flying on a plane right now," said Olivia.

"Even though I agreed that we'll attend my 20-year high school reunion in two years, at least work kept me from missing out on my 10-year and 15-year high school reunions," said Spencer.

"And your past bullies are going to be in shock if they didn't know that you're one of the most famous F.B.I. agents in the country while you're also married to another child prodigy and a father to triplets when we attend your reunion," said Olivia before thinking about Lent starting in less than a week and Spencer telling her that he no longer eats chili, fish, and any foods that were made from pigs causing her to promise not to eat chili, fish, or any food made from pigs around him, "When Lent starts next week Wednesday, we'll continue eating meat on Fridays since my pregnancy excuses me from having to cut meat from my diet and fast on Ash Wednesday and Fridays through Easter."

"Thankfully I've been exempt from cutting all meats except for fish from my diet during Lent since I told the priest about not being able to handle the smell of fish cooking after the Hankel case and I was told to allow myself to eat meat on Fridays during Lent since I needed to fatten up a bit," said Spencer just as his stomach growled causing him to look at his alarm clock as he thought about being the one in charge of cooking breakfast when he's home while his father and Joanna would alternate cooking breakfast when he's on a case, "We might as well get up so I can get started on breakfast."

"Can you please make French toast, yogurt parfait, and raspberry pancakes?" asked Olivia.

"I'll make anything you want," said Spencer.

A minute later Spencer and Olivia were taking turns on the toilet and getting dressed.

ddddd

As they were heading downstairs, Olivia who was slowly going down the stairs on the wheelchair platform looked at her husband, "Even though being wheelchair-bound for the first time since I became a below the knee amputee has caused me to give my arms a good workout, I can't wait to be no longer pregnant so I can start on walking unassisted again after my c-section," said Olivia.

"So life's going to be getting hectic for you when it comes to physical therapy sessions, making sure you don't open up your c-section scar, and visiting Piper, Serena, and Albert at the hospital until we're allowed to take them home and I officially start paternity leave," said Spencer.

"Pretty much, but everything will be worth it at the end since I always dreamed about becoming a mother and I'm grateful that my parents, Alice, and God picked out Piper, Serena, and Albert for us," said Olivia just as the lift reached the main level causing her to press a button to let down the flap that came up to secure her wheelchair before she wheeled off.

Spencer looked at his wife as they headed to the kitchen, "You believe that your parents, Alice, and God picked out Piper, Serena, and Albert for us?" asked Spencer.

Olivia nodded, "When I found out about Alice, my parents and Edmund told me that both Alice and God picked me out for them."

"Livy, have you ever projected yourself into an imaginative future with me that doesn't involve us breaking up so you could follow your dreams of joining the Peace Corps?" asked Spencer as he grabbed everything he needed to make french toast, yogurt parfait, and raspberry pancakes.

Olivia nodded as she watched her husband wash his hands and start prepping breakfast causing her to turn on the coffee machine and prep herself a mug of tea, "Even though I'm happy that we reunited sooner than we planned, got married, and I'm 23-weeks pregnant with triplets; sometimes I imagine us not breaking up and you still entered the F.B.I. Academy when you did and I just join you wherever the F.B.I. stationed you after I earned my Ph. D. in mathematics and B.A. in education and we get engaged after my graduation ceremony, I would get a job at one of the Catholic Schools at whatever city we settled down in, have a large Catholic wedding six months after you propose to me, and after enjoying married life for a year we would start having children so we could have a five-year-old daughter we would have named Piper or a four-year-old son, a four-year-old son or a four-year-old daughter, and a two-year-old daughter or a two-year-old son, while we would be expecting our fourth and final child that we would want to be surprised on the gender either right now or in a year or two when our two-year-old is attending school."

"I have been imagining the same scenario too, but I would have proposed to you before I joined the Academy so we could get married a few weeks after you graduate and still have three children by now as long as baby number three was conceived before I got shot above the left knee," said Spencer as he cracked some eggs into a bowl.

Olivia laughed, "We would have conceived Serena before you get shot, Doc."

"What about Spencer getting shot?" asked William as he entered the kitchen and looked over his son, "You better not of gotten shot again and not tell me when you were in California two days ago, Spencer."

"I'm fine since I wasn't the one to face the unsub, dad," said Spencer.

"We were just talking about how our life would have turned out if Olivia decided against teaching for a year at the Polytechnic School and then join the Peace Corps after she graduated college a year after my graduation," said Spencer.

"If I didn't stay in Pasadena for a year after graduation and then join the Peace Corps for two years, Spencer and I would have gotten engaged before Spencer left for the F.B.I. Academy and we would have married shortly or a few months after I graduated from college and join Spencer in D.C. while we would be having a five-year-old son or daughter, a four-year-old son or a four-year-old daughter, and a two-year-old son or daughter who was conceived before Spencer got shot above the knee right now while we would be expecting our fourth and final child right now or in a year or two," said Olivia.

"Ah the imagining how life would have turned out conversation," said William.

"You have imagined how your life would have turned out too?" asked Spencer.

William nodded, "There are times that I imagined myself committing your mother and raising you myself instead of leaving you in a dangerous situation so I wouldn't have lost 17 years with you and how our life would have turned out."

"Would I still have joined the F.B.I. when I was 21?" asked Spencer.

"There are times that you have joined the F.B.I. or there are times that you've done something else, but you were always successful with your life and you got married and had children of your own in each imagination I came up with," said William.

"Am I Spencer's wife?" asked Olivia.

William nodded, "Ever since I found out about you, you're the one I had imagined Spencer had married."

"Good," said Olivia as she popped a raspberry into her mouth.

William looked at everything his son had got out for breakfast and looked at his son who was cooking a piece of french toast, "Need any help, Spencer?" asked William.

"Can you work on the pancakes while I finish up on making french toast?" asked Spencer.

William looked at his daughter-in-law, "Craving french toast, yogurt parfait, and raspberry pancakes?" asked William.

"Yes and I just want to make sure that Spencer eats a filling breakfast since he's still too skinny for my liking despite how much he filled out," said Olivia before looking at her husband, "I can fix the yogurt parfait."

"OK, Livy," said Spencer as he passed his wife the Greek yogurt, blueberries, raspberries, and the bag of walnuts he grabbed for the yogurt parfait.

ddddd

After briefing was over, Rossi looked at Spencer who was staring at a picture of Blake, "Thinking about your niece and nephews right now?" asked Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "Even though Abigail and Brayden are a few years older than Mackenzie, my youngest nephew is going to be six-months-old in three days, so he's basically the same age as Blake."

"While this case is also going to be hard on you because of Piper, Serena, and Albert being born within the next two to three months," said Rossi.

Spencer nodded, "Yes," said Spencer before taking a breath, "Since Hotch wants us to head to the jet immediately, I should probably call Olivia while we're heading to the jet."

"Let her know that you need lots of pictures of Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer," said Rossi.

"I will be," said Spencer as he left the conference room and pulled out his phone, and called Olivia who answered on the second ring.

"Another case, Doc?" asked Olivia.

"Have to go back to California for a family annihilator in San Bernardino this time and one of the kids that were killed last night was a baby girl who was six-months-old causing me to think about our youngest nephew and Piper, Albert, and Serena even though they're not born yet," said Spencer as he opened up the glass doors to the bullpen so he could head to his office.

Olivia who was rubbing her baby bump gasped, "I take it that you need pictures of Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer then?" asked Olivia.

"Yes please and I'll find time to call Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer since I need to hear our youngest nephew babbling at me," said Spencer.

"I'll ask Edmund and Danielle to send you videos of Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer too," said Olivia.

"Thank you, Livy," said Spencer.

"I know that cases like this are hard for you since you're about to be a father while you're an uncle and a godfather, but please catch this son-of-a-bitch who had the heard to kill innocent children, Doc," said Olivia.

"I take it that pregnancy hormones are causing you to swear?" asked Spencer.

"Yes, and I will have to ask your father or Joanna to take me to confession," said Olivia.

ddddd

Spencer was staring at Mackenzie Lewis's bed as he thought about his 11-year-old niece Abigail and his unborn daughters Piper and Serena even though they weren't born yet as he replayed the 911 call recording that he listened to before he shook himself out of his thoughts about Abigail, Piper, and Serena as he reminded himself that Abigail was safe in D.C. while Piper and Serena were safe in Olivia's womb with their triplet brother Albert before he headed downstairs.

"Mackenzie Lewis was the fourth and final victim. She made the 911 call from under her bed. The M. E. didn't see any signs of a struggle, so he obviously dealt with her rather quickly. Ballistics confirmed that the rest of the Lewis family was shot with the exact same .357," said Spencer calmly.

"So if it was a gang, there was only one shooter," said Rossi.

Emily took a deep breath as she thought about hating the fact that their unsub killed a six-month-old baby girl, "The second and third victims were Trisha Lewis and six-month-old Blake. The injury patterns suggests that Mrs. Lewis tried to shield the baby with her own body."

Spencer took a breath inwardly as he thought about Olivia trying to shield Piper, Serena, and Albert with her own body in the future.

Rossi pointed to where Matt Lewis was found, "Matt Lewis was found right here, Ronald Underwood just over there. Underwood was shot 11 times in the head and abdomen."

"But Lewis himself only had a single gunshot wound to the head at almost point-blank range?" asked Spencer.

"How did someone get that close?" asked Rossi.

"He could have been subdued first," stated Emily.

"The M. E. didn't see any signs of a blitz attack or struggle," said Spencer.

"Well, it had to be an ambush of some kind. Probably when he was confronting Underwood," said Morgan.

"But that's almost impossible based on where the body was found," said Spencer.

"It's right in the middle of the room. It's too out in the open to surprise somebody," said Emily,

"Matt Lewis wasn't shot here," said Rossi.

"No, but someone moved the body to make it look like he was," said Spencer.

"Forensic countermeasure designed to make us think these guys died in a gunfight that never occurred," said Morgan

"Bullets and blood everywhere. Too messy for an accurate reconstruction," said Rossi.

dddd

After talking about the crime scene some more, Spencer looked at his watch.

"You OK?" asked Emily.

Spencer took a breath, "While I was in Mackenzie's room, I kept on thinking about my niece Abigail and my daughters Piper and Serena even though they and their triplet Albert aren't even born yet. I was trying to see if it's an OK time to call her since she and Brayden were still at school and they would be home from school right now."

dddddd

A few hours later Spencer smiled when he saw Abigail, Brayden, and Baby Spencer on his laptop.

"Hi, Uncle Spencer," said Brayden.

"Hello, Uncle Spencer," said Abigail.

Baby Spencer grinned and babbled at the sight of his favorite uncle.

"Hello Abigail, Brayden, and Spencer," said Spencer.

"Aunt Olivia said that you are working a hard case and that you needed to see my sister and baby brother," said Brayden.

Spencer nodded, "I just needed to see the faces of my favorite niece and favorite nephews."

"I'm your only niece, Uncle Spencer," said Abigail.

"I know, but you're always going to be my favorite niece," said Spencer before thinking about school, "How was school today?" asked Spencer.

"I got a 95% on my math test," said Abigail.

"That's great, Abigail," said Spencer.

"I got a 90% on the same test while I made ten baskets during basketball practice today," said Brayden.

"That's awesome," said Spencer.

"Do you think that you'll be home in time for my next game tomorrow?" asked Brayden.

"Probably not, but Aunt Olivia or your parents will film the game for me," said Spencer.

"It's OK if you can't make it since you have attended every home game when you can, Uncle Spencer," said Brayden.

"And I know that you're going to be on paternity leave when my ballet recital happens in May, Uncle Spencer," said Abigail just as Edmund appeared.

"How's it going, Spencer?" asked Edmund.

"Emotional case, but seeing my niece and nephews have helped me, Edmund," said Spencer.

"Just wait until Piper, Serena, and Albert are born and they'll be cheering you up while you're away for work since Skyping with Abigail and Brayden while I was in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan has helped me, Spencer," said Edmund.

"I know," said Spencer before thinking about the time in D.C., "I need to get back to work, but I'll find time to Skype tomorrow."

"Please stay safe Uncle Spencer," said Abigail and Brayden in unison.

"I will and I love you guys," said Spencer.

"I love you too, Uncle Spencer," said Abigail.

"Love you too, Uncle Spencer," said Brayden.

Baby Spencer babbled at his favorite uncle.

"Stay safe so I don't have to kick your butt for upsetting my sister," said Edmund.

"I promise," said Spencer before waving goodbye and signing off.

dddd

The next morning Spencer's eyes went wide when he saw a picture of an eight-month-pregnant Karen Nelson causing him to grab his phone and called Olivia who answered on the second ring causing him to speak before Olivia can greet him, "Are you, Piper, Serena, and Albert OK, Livy?" asked Spencer.

"Piper, Serena, and Albert are just messing with my bladder and kicking away while I'm perfectly healthy while I'm elevating stumpy and my good leg right now," said Olivia.

"Good," said Spencer.

"I take it that another home invasion homicide happened last night?" asked Olivia.

"Yes and a woman who was due in a month was killed," said Spencer.

Olivia gasped, "Oh my, Spencer. I don't blame you for calling me and asking me if Piper, Serena, Albert, and myself are alright. Just remember that I'm safe at home with your father and Joanna who have been getting lessons to shoot a gun from you and Edmund."

"I know, but at least Hotch shielded me from the sight of visiting last night's crime scene by letting me sleep even though I'm now picturing you in the crime scene photo right now," said Spencer before seeing that all the officers were gathered, "I need to get going since it's time to deliver the profile, so I'll talk to you later, Livy."

"Please stay safe and I love you," said Olivia.

"I promise and I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You OK?" asked Hotch.

"Even though I'm grateful that you kept me from going to the crime scene last night, this case is extremely personal for me now because of picturing Olivia in this crime scene photo," said Spencer.

"Just remember that Olivia and your unborn triplets are safe at home right now," said Hotch.

"Olivia reminded me that," said Spencer.

"Plus don't forget that you're making this country a safer place for Olivia, Piper, Serena, Albert, your niece, and your nephews," said Hotch.

"I know. It's one of the reasons why Livy and I agreed to have me remain working for the B.A.U. after the Zodiac Copycat killer case," said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer was helping his teammates give the profile while Charles Manson was brought up.

ddddd

The next day, Spencer was pointing at the geographical profile that he did after listening to Emily interview with Ramon Gomez thanks to his rudimentary knowledge in Spanish that he had when he took Spanish in school and spending nine years in Pasadena, California, There are approximately two hours between Ramon's abduction here and his escape here. He crossed the train tracks here. Now, given the time and distance parameters, there's no way the unsub could have ventured outside this radius," said Spencer as he made a circle with his hand.

"OK, he said the train was close, and he heard laughter and loud music," said Emily.

"I looked at points of interest next to the train tracks and there really isn't much. There's a warehouse, a taco stand that would have been closed, and a bar called the Drunken Dog," said Spencer.

"Why stop there? He needs a drink?" asked Rossi sarcastically.

"He doesn't seem like the drinking type. He's not impulsive or sloppy enough," said JJ.

Hotch quickly got Garcia on the phone.

"I live to serve you, sir," answered Garcia.

"Garcia, what can you tell us about a bar called the Drunken Dog?" asked Hotch.

"Ooh, I like it already," said Garcia as she started typing, "Let's see. Uh, it's been around 30 years. It was opened by a warehouse worker named Manny Gresham. Upon his death six years ago, it was bought by a hedge fund company called First Advantage."

"Why would a hedge fund company want a bar?" asked Emily.

"Let's see. Well, they bought it for a song, and, poor man, his medical expenses bankrupted him. I guess that's why-," said Garcia just as some information popped up, "shut the front door. Clark Preston is on the board of First Advantage, which explains why the bar is on a shortlist of local businesses that support Preston for mayor."

Spencer was heading to Pamela and Trevor Mill's house with Hotch and Rossi when Hotch answered the phone.

"What have you got, Garcia?" asked Hotch.

"Sir, I found the connection between the Mills family and Clark Preston. 10 years ago, the Mills were the victims of a home invasion. Robert Mills, the father, and 10-year-old Julie were killed. Pamela was raped, and now she has a lot of brain damage that has left her in a near vegetative state," said Garcia.

"What about Trevor?" asked Spencer.

"He hid in the closet, and when it was over, he called 911," said Garcia.

"That's why he stuffed that boy in the closet. He was reliving his own victimization," said Hotch.

"He didn't do that to the other children he murdered because he didn't relate to them," said Rossi.

"Garcia, was anybody convicted of the crime?" asked Hotch.

"Yes. A Ronnie Green and Carlos Jackson. They're both African American, both serving life in Folsom. And then after the murders, Preston, he financially supported the family almost entirely," said Garcia.

"So they're close. He's known the family for years," said Rossi.

Spencer thought about how his Aunt Ethel, Uncle Gordon, Olivia, and Olivia's parents helped him cover his mom's medical expenses after he committed his mother while he and Olivia are both financially stable to raise their soon to be born triplets and make sure that they get the best education within the next few years, "That must be how they're paying Pamela's medical expenses. It would be awfully hard to cover that on a part-time messenger's salary."

"Yeah, I mean, it's a top-flight policy. So Preston is playing the savior," said Garcia before typing, "And it looks like that monthly donation that Pamela makes to Preston's campaign is her disability check."

"My guess is Trevor authorized that because he feels beholden to Preston. He probably idolizes him," said Rossi.

"So Preston manipulating the Mills family to further his own agenda. He's behind everything," said Hotch.

"He took advantage of Trevor when he was weak and vulnerable. He gains his trust, then he brainwashes him," said Rossi.

"Turn him into a killer," said Spencer.

"Uh, guys there's something else," said Garcia before she explained what she found.

A few minutes later Spencer, Hotch, and Rossi stormed into Pamela's and Trevor Mill's house.

"FBI!" shouted Hotch before he, Spencer, and Rossi searched the house before meeting in Pamela's bedroom.

Spencer entered Pamela's room to find an older woman laying in a bed, "House is empty. He's not here, but I found this in his bedroom," said Spencer as he passed a note to Rossi and spoke softly, "It's addressed to her.

""The price of peace is sacrifice. "And I'm prepared to pay that price, no matter how high. I hope you'll still love me."" read Rossi before looking at Spencer and Hotch, "This is a good-bye letter."

"Or a suicide note," said Hotch softly.

Spencer glanced at Pamela as he thought about Trevor taking care of his mother, "He doesn't profile as suicidal."

"No, but he knows this could be his final mission. He may want to go out in a blaze of glory," said Rossi.

Hotch thought about Clark Preston's two competitors, "It's all about the election. He's only got one move left. We need to secure Mayor Wennington. Have the rest of the team find Hilary Ross," said Hotch as he pulled out his phone to make a call before he, Spencer, and Rossi went to secure Mayor Wennington.

ddddd

As they were flying home, Rossi glanced over at a sleeping Spencer who was sitting next to Hotch who was reading a file inwardly chuckled as he thought about the possibility of Spencer's head ending up on Hotch's shoulder if he leaned any further to the left when shifting in his sleep, "Reid might end up with his head on your shoulder, Aaron," whispered Rossi.

Hotch glanced over and looked at a sleeping Spencer who didn't show any signs of having a nightmare as he whispered, "After the case we just worked, I'm just grateful that he's able to get some sleep because this case took an emotional toll on him because of his wife being pregnant like one of the victims while one of the victims is the same age of his youngest nephew while he's soon going to be dealing with sleepless nights when it comes to Piper, Serena, and Albert waking him and Olivia up for feedings, diaper changes, and needing to be rocked."

"It must have been hard for Reid to see that crime scene photo of that pregnant woman when his own wife is currently pregnant with triplets," said Rossi quietly.

Hotch nodded, "It was, but I'm glad that he stayed objective."

xxxxx

A few hours later Spencer was cooking breakfast when Olivia who was dressed for Mass wheeled herself into the kitchen in her wheelchair, "When did you get home, Doc?" asked Olivia.

"An hour ago, and I got four hours of sleep on the jet while I got two hours of sleep on the couch since I didn't want to wake you up," said Spencer.

Olivia looked at the clock and noticed that it was 7:30 A.M., "Are you going to be up to attending 10:30 A.M Mass this morning before we take Abigail and Brayden to the Smithsonian Museum of American History?" asked Olivia.

"I should be since I managed to get six hours of sleep and I really shouldn't get any more sleep if I want to get a full night's rest tonight," said Spencer.

"If you're still tired, you can skip out on Mass and I won't hold it against you," said Olivia just as William and Joanna both entered the kitchen.

"When did you get home, Spencer?" asked William.

"An hour ago and Emily got grazed in the arm by a bullet," said Spencer.

"Is she OK?" asked Olivia.

"She'll be wearing a sling for a few days, but she was able to fly home with the rest of the team and me last night," said Spencer as he put the last pancake onto the platter, "Pancakes are done and scrambled eggs and turkey bacon are being kept warm in the oven."

"Let's eat breakfast," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, William, and Joanna were eating breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My mom lost her 47-year-old father to a heart attack when she was 18, and when I was a little girl my maternal grandmother who had never remarried after my grandfather's death and my mother would tell me that my late grandpa James picked me out for my mother.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Next up is their honeymoon!
> 
> I hope no one is mad that JJ and Will aren't going to get back together since I was given some advice from another Fanfiction author while I'm planning that Will ends up getting together with Spencer's and Olivia's friend Marissa.


End file.
